Since 2012, the SEC has issued more than $1.8 billion in awards to whistleblowers, which includes awards to our clients totaling millions of dollars. Experienced and effective SEC whistleblower lawyers can provide critical guidance to whistleblowers throughout this process to protect their identities and increase the likelihood that they maximize their awards.
In matters in which we obtained SEC whistleblower awards for our clients, the public orders announcing the awards note the “significant assistance” provided to SEC staff that enabled the SEC to complete investigations more quickly.
If you have original information that you would like to report to the SEC Office of the Whistleblower, contact the Director of our SEC Whistleblower Practice at mstock@zuckermanlaw.com or call our leading SEC whistleblower lawyers at (202) 930-5901 or (202) 262-8959. All inquiries are confidential.
In conjunction with our courageous clients, our SEC whistleblower attorneys have helped the SEC halt multi-million dollar investment schemes, expose violations at large publicly traded companies, and return funds to defrauded investors.
Under the SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, whistleblowers can submit tips anonymously to the SEC through an attorney and be eligible for an award for exposing any material violation of the federal securities laws, including:
The SEC has jurisdiction over a wide range of industries and entities – both public and private.
Recently the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners published a profile of SEC whistleblower attorney Matthew Stock’s success working with whistleblowers to fight fraud:
Click here to hear SEC whistleblower attorney Matthew Stock’s tips for SEC whistleblowers.
In determining an award percentage, the SEC considers the particular facts and circumstances of each case. For example, positive factors that may increase an award percentage include the significance of the information, the level of assistance provided by the whistleblower and the whistleblower’s attorney, and the law enforcement interests at stake. On the other hand, negative factors that may decrease an award percentage include unreasonable delay in reporting the violation to the SEC and the culpability or involvement of the whistleblower in the violation. For more information, see the SEC Office of the Whistleblower’s Guidance for Whistleblower Award Determinations and Approach to Processing Whistleblower Award Claims.
Since 2012, the SEC Whistleblower Office has issued more than $1.8 billion in awards to whistleblowers. The largest SEC whistleblower awards to date are $279 million, $114 million, $110 million, $104 million, and $50 million. See some of the SEC whistleblower cases that have resulted in multi-million dollar awards.
The path to receiving an SEC whistleblower award is lengthy and complex. Throughout this process, an SEC whistleblower attorney can provide critical guidance to whistleblowers on a wide range of issues.
Moreover, even if a whistleblower has already submitted a tip to the SEC, an SEC whistleblower attorney can ensure that the whistleblower followed the required procedures to be eligible for an award. A failure to comply with these rules could render a whistleblower ineligible for an award, even if they provided original information to the SEC that led to a successful enforcement action. The SEC recently amended the rules of the program to allow whistleblowers who originally failed to comply with certain procedures to fix, or “perfect,” their SEC whistleblower tips to become eligible for awards. For example, if a whistleblower first learns of the required filing procedures after retaining an attorney in connection with their submission, the rules allow the whistleblower to submit a properly executed tip within 30 days to become eligible for an award.
A skillful eligibility analysis may be the difference between a multimillion-dollar whistleblower award and no award at all.
An SEC whistleblower lawyer can also identify and address potential evidentiary issues, which frequently arise in SEC whistleblower cases. Finally, as a practical matter, the SEC is more likely to act on a whistleblower’s tip if they receive a compelling submission from an SEC whistleblower law firm that has a track record of successfully representing whistleblowers.
As noted in an annual report of the SEC OWB, “Whistleblower tips that are specific, credible, and timely, and that are accompanied by corroborating documentary evidence, are more likely to be forwarded to investigative staff for further analysis or investigation. For instance, if the tip identifies individuals involved in the misconduct, provides examples of particular fraudulent transactions, or points to non-public materials evidencing a fraud, the tip is more likely to be assigned to Enforcement staff for investigation.”
When determining the amount of an award, the SEC considers various factors that may increase or decrease an award percentage of between 10% and 30% of the total monetary sanctions collected. An SEC whistleblower attorney can help a whistleblower leverage these factors to maximize their award. In addition, an SEC whistleblower attorney can determine whether a whistleblower is eligible for a “related action” award, which could significantly increase the amount of an award.
Finally, if the SEC acts on a whistleblower’s information and brings a successful enforcement action in excess of $1 million, an SEC whistleblower lawyer can help prepare a detailed application for an award that makes a compelling case for a high award percentage of the total monetary sanctions collected.
Importantly, these benefits represent only a handful of the countless ways in which an SEC whistleblower attorney can assist whistleblowers before the SEC. For more information, contact the SEC whistleblower attorneys at Zuckerman Law today to schedule a free, confidential consultation.
For more information about the SEC whistleblower process, see the SEC’s investor bulletin on SEC investigations.
Whistleblowers are also afforded substantial protection against retaliation. Learn more about anti-retaliation protections for SEC whistleblowers under the Dodd-Frank Act and Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the tools that our experienced whistleblower attorneys employ to combat retaliation.
The SEC Whistleblower Program continued its remarkable run of success in FY 2021. According to the SEC Whistleblower Office’s 2021 Annual Report to Congress, the office received more than 12,200 tips in the fiscal year. This is the largest number of whistleblower tips the office has received in one year, which represents an approximate 76% increase over FY 2020, during which the SEC received the now-second highest number of whistleblower tips in a fiscal year.
The most common SEC whistleblower tips related to manipulation (25%), corporate disclosures and financials (16%), offering fraud (16%), trading and pricing (6%), and initial coin offerings and cryptocurrencies (6%). Other notable areas of SEC whistleblower tips included insider trading, foreign bribery and other FCPA violations, and unregistered securities offerings. Since 2011, the SEC Whistleblower Office has received more than 52,400 tips that have enabled the SEC to obtain orders for nearly $5 billion in total monetary sanctions, including more than $3.1 billion in disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and interest, of which more than $1.3 billion has been, or is scheduled to be, returned to harmed investors.
Consistent with prior years, the states that yielded the highest number of tips in FY 2021 were California, Maryland, Florida, New York, and Texas. The SEC Whistleblower Office also received whistleblower tips from 99 countries outside of the United States in FY 2021. The highest number of tips were from whistleblowers in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the People’s Republic of China.
Notably, whistleblowers need not be U.S. citizens to be eligible for SEC whistleblower awards and the SEC whistleblower attorneys at Zuckerman Law can represent SEC whistleblowers from any state or country. According to the 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index, a majority of countries are making little or no progress in ending corruption. This finding is consistent with PwC’s 2018 fraud survey, which reported the highest fraud levels in organizations in the past 20 years, and the ACFE’s 2021 fraud survey, which reported that 51% of organizations have uncovered more fraud since the pandemic and 71% of anti-fraud professionals expect the level of fraud to increase over the next year. As the SEC continues to promote worldwide public awareness of the SEC Whistleblower Program, we expect to see an increase in whistleblower tips and awards in the coming years.
The annual report also indicates that the SEC Whistleblower Program is gaining momentum. In particular, the SEC Office of the Whistleblower, which first opened its doors in August 2011, has issued a majority of the whistleblower awards in the past several years:
When compared with the entirety of the SEC Whistleblower Program, FY 2021 and FY 2022’s results stand out: from the inception of the program in FY 2011 through FY 2020, the SEC issued a total of $562 million in awards to whistleblower awards to 106 whistleblowers. Then, in just the past two fiscal years, the SEC has issued more than $793 million in awards. It appears that the program is now firing on all cylinders. For more information about the SEC Whistleblower Program, see our Whistleblower Page.
Since the inception of the SEC Whistleblower Program, whistleblower tips have enabled the SEC to order more than $3.5 billion in monetary sanctions against wrongdoers. The table below identifies some of the largest SEC whistleblower awards that the SEC has issued:
| Whistleblower Award | Date | Basis for Whistleblower Award |
|---|---|---|
| $279 million | May 5, 2023 | On May 5, 2023, the SEC announced its largest-ever award, nearly $279 million, to a whistleblower whose information and assistance led to the successful enforcement of SEC and related actions. |
| $114 million | October 22, 2020 | On October 22, 2020, the SEC announced an award of $114 million to a whistleblower whose information and "substantial, ongoing assistance" led to the successful enforcement of SEC and related actions. The award consisted of an approximately $52 million award in connection with the SEC case and an approximately $62 million award arising out of the related actions by another agency. |
| $110 million | September 15, 2021 | On September 15, 2021, the SEC announced its second-largest whistleblower award of $110 million. According to the press release announcing the award, the award consists of an approximately $40 million award in connection with an SEC case and an approximately $70 million award arising out of related actions by another agency. With the award, the SEC Whistleblower Program has now paid more than $1 billion in awards to whistleblowers. |
| $104 million | August 4, 2023 | On August 4, 2023, the SEC announced an award of $104 million to seven individuals whose information and assistance led to a successful SEC enforcement action and related actions brought by another agency. |
| $50 million | April 15, 2021 | On April 15, 2021, the SEC announced a $50 million award to joint whistleblowers. The press release announcing the award stated, "The joint whistleblowers provided exemplary assistance to the SEC staff during the investigation, including meeting with staff numerous times and providing voluminous detailed documents. The information provided by these individuals resulted in the return of tens of millions of dollars to harmed investors." |
| $50 million | June 4, 2020 | On June 4, 2020, the SEC announced its then largest-ever whistleblower award of $50 million to a whistleblower. In the press release announcing the award, the Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, Jane Norberg, stated: "This award is the largest individual whistleblower award announced by the SEC since the inception of the program, and brings the total awarded to whistleblowers by the SEC to over $500 million, including over $100 million in this fiscal year alone. Whistleblowers have proven to be a critical tool in the enforcement arsenal to combat fraud and protect investors." |
| $50 and $33 million | March 19, 2018 | On March 19, 2018, the SEC announced an award of $50 million to two whistleblowers and an award of $33 million to another whistleblower. See the SEC's order determining the whistleblowers' award claims here. |
| $39 and $15 million | September 6, 2018 | On September 6, 2018, the SEC announced its second-largest SEC whistleblower award to date of $39 million. According to the SEC's Press Release, the whistleblowers provided critical information and continued assistance that helped the SEC bring an important enforcement action. |
| $37 and $13 million | March 26, 2019 | On March 26, 2019, the SEC announced its third-highest SEC whistleblower award to date of $37 million. Another whistleblower received a $13 million award in the same action, totaling $50 million in awards to the two whistleblowers. |
| $36 million | September 24, 2021 | The Securities and Exchange Commission announced an award of approximately $36 million to a whistleblower "whose information and assistance significantly contributed to the success of an SEC enforcement action as well as actions by another federal agency." According to the SEC's press release announcing the award, "the whistleblower provided crucial information on an illegal scheme to the SEC's and the other agency's staffs, which included multiple meetings and the identification of key documents and witnesses. Under the SEC's whistleblower program, individuals who provide critical information to other agencies may be eligible for a related action award if they are also eligible for an award in the underlying SEC action." |
| $30 million | September 22, 2014 | A foreign whistleblower came to the SEC with “information about an ongoing fraud that would have been very difficult to detect.” This award underscores that non-US citizens are eligible whistleblowers in the SEC Whistleblower Program. |
| $28 million | May 19, 2021 | On May 19, 2021, the SEC announced an award to a whistleblower totaling more than $28 million in connection with an SEC enforcement action and a related action by another federal agency. The whistleblower’s information caused both the SEC and the other agency to open investigations that resulted in significant enforcement actions. |
| $28 million | November 3, 2020 | The SEC issued a $28 million award to a whistleblower who "provided significant information that aided the SEC in bringing a successful enforcement action." According to the press release announcing the award, the whistleblower "internally reported information that prompted the company to initiate an internal investigation, and saved the staff time and resources by providing testimony and identifying a key witness." |
| $27 million | May 17, 2021 | The SEC awarded almost $27 million to two whistleblowers who provided SEC staff with "new information and assistance during an existing investigation, including meeting with the staff in person on multiple days." According to the SEC's press release, the whistleblowers' "information and cooperation helped the Commission bring the enforcement action, which resulted in the return of millions of dollars to harmed investors." |
| $27 million | April 16, 2020 | The SEC issued a $27 million award to a whistleblower who alerted the agency to misconduct occurring, in part, overseas. After providing the tip to the SEC, the whistleblower provided critical investigative leads that advanced the investigation and saved significant SEC resources. For more information, click here. |
| $23 million | June 2, 2021 | The SEC issued two awards of approximately $13 million and $10 million to two whistleblowers whose information and assistance led to successful SEC and related actions. According to the SEC's press release: "The whistleblowers’ information and assistance led to multiple successful enforcement actions related to a complex and fraudulent scheme involving multiple individuals and tens of millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains.” |
| $22 million | May 10, 2021 | On May 20, 2021, the SEC issued awards totaling $22 million to two whistleblowers whose information and assistance were of "crucial importance to successful SEC enforcement actions brought against a financial services firm." According to the SEC's press release: "The first whistleblower received an award of $18 million, while the second whistleblower received a $4 million award [because] the first whistleblower was the initial source of the investigation while the second whistleblower submitted information much later after the investigation was already underway." |
| $22 million | September 30, 2021 | The SEC issued an award of almost $30 million to two insider whistleblowers whose tips led SEC staff to open an investigation. The first whistleblower, who was the first to alert SEC staff of potential wrongdoing and provided substantial, ongoing assistance, received an award of approximately $22 million. The second whistleblower provided additional valuable information, which significantly contributed to the success of the SEC's enforcement action, and received an award of approximately $7 million. |
| $22 million | August 30, 2016 | A former financial executive at Monsanto exposed weaknesses in the company’s internal controls that failed to account for millions of dollars in rebates. Monsanto agreed to settle the allegations of accounting fraud for $80 million. Importantly, external auditors, internal auditors, accountants and other compliance personnel may be eligible for awards under the SEC Whistleblower Program. Indeed, they are often best positioned to discover wrongdoing. |
| $20 million | November 14, 2016 | According to the SEC's order determining the whistleblower awards, three whistleblowers applied for awards related to the enforcement action. The SEC denied two of the whistleblowers' applications because they did not provide "original information," and issued the full $20 million award to one whistleblower. |
| $18 million | April 28, 2020 | The SEC announced an award of more than $18 million to a whistleblower whose tip prompted an enforcement action that returned millions of dollars to retail investors. |
| $17 million | June 9, 2016 | A company insider “substantially advanced the agency’s investigation and ultimate enforcement action.” This award highlights that whistleblowers may receive an award if they provide original information regarding an open SEC investigation if it significantly contributes to the success of the action. |
| $16 million | November 30, 2017 | Two whistleblowers received awards of more than $8 million each for providing the SEC with critical information that led to a successful enforcement action. This award demonstrates how whistleblowers can receive an increased award percentage for providing ongoing, extensive, and timely assistance to the SEC. As detailed in the SEC's order, the second whistleblower received the same $8 million award as the first whistleblower by providing additional significant information and ongoing assistance to the SEC that "enabled the Enforcement staff to more fully and quickly understand the misconduct and to assess the legal consequences... [which] saved a substantial amount of time and resources in the Investigation." |
| $14 million | September 30, 2013 | The whistleblower exposed a fraudulent offering that targeted foreign investors who sought to gain a legal pathway to citizenship through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. |
| $9.2 million | February 23, 2021 | The whistleblower provided significant information about an ongoing fraud to the SEC that enabled a large amount of money to be returned to investors harmed by the fraud. In addition, the whistleblower information led to successful related actions by the DOJ, one of which was a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) or deferred prosecution agreement (DPA). The award marks the first SEC whistleblower "related action" award based on a NPA or DPA with the DOJ since amendments to the SEC’s whistleblower program rules became effective on Dec. 7, 2020. |
| $7 million | January 23, 2017 | Three whistleblowers split an award of more than $7 million after helping the SEC prosecute an investment scheme. One whistleblower provided information that was the primary reason that the SEC opened an investigation. That whistleblower received a more than $4 million award. Two other whistleblowers jointly provided new information during the SEC’s investigation that significantly contributed to the success of the SEC’s enforcement action. Those two whistleblowers will split more than $3 million. |
| $5.5 million | January 6, 2017 | An anonymous whistleblower orally provided the SEC with critical information about ongoing securities fraud. Generally, the SEC requires that whistleblower provide information “in writing.” However, the SEC waived that requirement in this case due to “highly unusual circumstances” and awarded the whistleblower more than $5.5 million for the information. This award marks the third time that the SEC has deemed it appropriate to waive a procedural requirement. The most recent exception occurred on July 27, 2017, when the SEC issued a $1.7 million whistleblower award to an insider who failed to comply with all of the whistleblower program's rules and had some culpability in the fraud. The former chief of the SEC whistleblower office said that these awards underscore the SEC’s discretionary authority to do what justice requires. |
| $5 million | April 20, 2020 | The SEC issued a $5 million award to a whistleblower who provided significant information that led to a successful enforcement action. According to the SEC, the whistleblower provided critical evidence of wrongdoing, which helped save time and resources in the SEC’s investigation, and the whistleblower suffered a unique hardship as a result of raising concerns internally. |
| $5 million | May 17, 2016 | A former company insider’s detailed tip led the agency to uncover securities violations that would have been nearly impossible for it to detect but for the whistleblower’s information. The SEC's press release noted that employees are often best positioned to witness wrongdoing. |
| $4 million | April 25, 2017 | The SEC issued the $4 million award to an anonymous whistleblower who provided information that led another governmental authority to a successful enforcement action resulting in significant monetary sanctions. This award highlights that SEC whistleblowers may be eligible for awards for "related actions." |
| $4 million | September 30, 2016 | The SEC issued the award to an anonymous whistleblower for “alter[ing] the agency to a fraud.” The lack of publicly available information about the anonymous whistleblower and the enforcement action underscores how serious the SEC is about protecting whistleblower's. Under the program, whistleblower may report anonymously through an SEC whistleblower attorney. |
| $3.8 million | July 14, 2020 | The SEC issued a $3.8 million award to a whistleblower that provided new information during the course of an ongoing investigation into a fraudulent scheme. According to the order announcing the award, the information that the whistleblower provided “helped the Commission halt an ongoing fraud and return millions of dollars to harmed investors.” |
| $3.5 million | May 13, 2016 | The whistleblower “bolstered an ongoing investigation with additional evidence of wrongdoing” which helped the SEC during settlement discussions with the company. This award underscores how whistleblowers may still receive an award even if the SEC already has an open investigation into a matter. |
The SEC whistleblower process is lengthy and complex. See below for articles by our firm’s SEC whistleblower lawyers responding to frequently asked questions by SEC whistleblowers.
As discussed in our articles, the SEC Whistleblower Program has become a very effective enforcement tool for the SEC. But very few whistleblowers have received awards, which underscores the importance of having experienced counsel represent a whistleblower effectively at the SEC.
We have assembled a team of leading SEC whistleblower lawyers to provide top-notch representation to SEC whistleblowers. Washingtonian magazine named two of our attorneys top whistleblower lawyers. U.S. News and Best Lawyers® have named Zuckerman Law a Tier 1 Law Firm in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area.
The SEC Whistleblower Office provides an Annual Report to Congress on the SEC Whistleblower Program. See below for the annual reports:
According to the FY 2021 report of the SEC Office of the Whistleblower, the most common allegation types reported by SEC whistleblowers relate to:
The SEC has broad jurisdiction to combat securities fraud. In FY 2021, the SEC brought a diverse mix of 697 enforcement actions, addressing a broad range of violations. The enforcement actions enabled the SEC to obtain judgments and orders for nearly $2.4 billion in disgorgement and more than $1.4 billion in penalties in FY 2021.
For more information about the SEC Whistleblower Program, see the following resources:
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We are a Washington, DC-based law firm that represents whistleblowers in whistleblower rewards and whistleblower retaliation matters and litigates discrimination claims on behalf of employees in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. The firm is dedicated to zealously advocating on behalf of our clients to achieve justice and accountability.
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