US Financial Regulator Paid Whistleblowers More Than $45 Million

While whistleblowers can often face retaliation, including being fired or dragged to court relentlessly, those who reported wrongdoing to the U.S.’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) were paid more than $45 million this year for revelations.

The agency said the high payouts, a dramatic increase from smaller awards granted in prior years, showed the value of tips that helped hunt down violators, Reuters reported.

James McDonald, director of the agency’s enforcement division, said it was a “transformative year” for its whistleblower program, and expected more to come forward given its success and the rewards being offered.

“Whistleblowers have added significant value to our enforcement program by enabling the commission to swiftly identify misconduct and hold wrongdoers accountable,” he said. “I expect this trend to continue as the Commission continues to receive increasing numbers of high-quality whistleblower tips.”

It wasn’t said how many people were paid nor what information was provided and if it led to significant prosecutions. Under the program, whistleblowers can receive 10-30 percent of any monetary sanctions resulting from tips.

Before this year, the CFTC issued just four whistleblower awards totaling less than $11 million, according to the agency’s website.

In July, the CFTC  said it gave a single whistleblower a $30 million award, the largest since the program began in 2010, indicating the information led to a sizeable penalty against the violator, which was not identified. A whistleblower living in a foreign country was also rewarded, a first for the agency.

While the CFTC is pushing rewards to find wrongdoers, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which oversees the stock exchange and financial trading, is considering limits on its own program.

SEC Chairman Jay Clayton said its program has been a success, but the agency wants to give bigger payouts for smaller cases and smaller payouts for bigger settlements without explaining how that would be an incentive.