WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday said it has given out its second-largest whistleblower award on record, doling out more than $50 million to two tipsters.
The SEC award is the second largest in the history of the agency’s whistleblower program, “reflecting the tremendous contribution of these joint whistleblowers to our ability to recover funds for harmed investors,” said Jane Norberg, the outgoing chief of the agency’s whistleblower office.
The agency did not disclose the investigation linked to Thursday’s whistleblower award but said it involved “highly complex transactions and would have been difficult to detect without their information.”
The SEC’s whistleblower program, which the SEC has described as “critical,” was established after the 2007-2009 global financial crisis and has yielded more than $2.5 billion in penalties through fiscal 2020. The agency has given $812 million to 151 individuals since 2012, the SEC’s statement said.
In October, the SEC issued a record $114 million award to a tipster and in June gave nearly $50 million to another whistleblower.
The latest award went to two whistleblowers, while a third was denied, according to an agency filing.
(Reporting by Chris Prentice; Additional reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
