
Notwithstanding the current COVID-19 crisis, the Securities & Exchange Commission has continued to award numerous multi-million-dollar bounties under its Dodd-Frank whistleblower program.
Since January 21, 2020, when the CDC confirmed the first case of COVID-19 in the United States, the SEC has issued 12 whistleblower awards totaling approximately $64 million. Some of the highlights of these awards include:
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- A $7 million award on February 28, 2020 to a whistleblower who provided “extensive and sustained assistance, such as identifying witnesses.”
- A $450,000 award on March 30, 2020 to a whistleblower who had compliance-related responsibilities. Notably, the award was the SEC’s third whistleblower award to an individual who had such duties.
- A $27 million award on April 16, 2020 to a whistleblower who alerted the agency to misconduct occurring in part overseas. The award was the SEC’s sixth largest award in the program’s history.
- A $5 million award on April 20, 2020 to a whistleblower who “suffered a unique hardship as a result of raising concerns internally.”
- An $18 million award on April 28, 2020 to a whistleblower who repeatedly reported the problem internally before contacting the SEC. The award was the SEC’s ninth largest award in the program’s history.
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Since issuing its first award in 2012, the SEC has awarded over $450 million to 82 individuals, and the Commission shows no signs of slowing down in the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic.