It is the highest amount paid to a whistleblower to date. It is more than double the previous record: $114 million in October 2020.
“Today’s size of the reward – the highest in the history of our program – not only encourages whistleblowers to present themselves with accurate information about potential securities violations, but also reflects the overwhelming success of our whistleblower program,” writes the SEC in a press release.
To protect the identity of the whistleblower, no details about the case, including the name of the company involved, are being disclosed. In this case, the whistleblower’s revelations did not lead to an investigation, but broadened the scope of the misconduct under investigation, the SEC said.
The whistleblower program has existed since 2012. Thanks to information obtained in this way, the SEC has already been able to detect more than $ 4 billion in wrongfully obtained profits and interest.
A whistleblower who provides new and credible information can receive 10 to 30 percent of the fine eventually imposed on the company that is the subject of the revelations.