Whistleblower Alert! CFTC Awards Whistleblower More Than $300,000. This Means the Penalty Levied Ranged from $1-$3 million
Press Release:
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced an award of more than $300,000 to a whistleblower whose particularly informative tip caused the Division of Enforcement (DOE) to open an investigation that led to an underlying enforcement action. That tip precisely and accurately described the misconduct at issue. Moreover, the whistleblower assisted DOE staff multiple times during the investigation, provided additional evidence, interpreted it for DOE staff, and conserved substantial resources for the CFTC.
“We are pleased the Commission has granted this award to an outstanding whistleblower,” said Whistleblower Office Acting Director Christina McGlosson. “The Whistleblower Office remains committed to rewarding meritorious whistleblowers for their valuable contributions to the CFTC’s enforcement efforts.”
About the CFTC’s Whistleblower Program
The Whistleblower Program was created under Section 748 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. Since issuing its first award in 2014, the CFTC has granted whistleblower awards amounting to almost $350 million. Those awards are associated with enforcement actions that have resulted in monetary sanctions totaling more than $3 billion. The CFTC issues awards related not only to the agency’s enforcement actions, but also in connection with actions brought by other domestic or foreign regulators if certain conditions are met.
The Commodity Exchange Act provides confidentiality protections for whistleblowers. Regardless of whether the CFTC grants an award, the CFTC will not disclose any information that could reasonably be expected to reveal a whistleblower’s identity, except in limited circumstances. Consistent with this confidentiality protection, the CFTC will not disclose the name of the enforcement action in which the whistleblower provided information or the exact dollar amount of the award granted.
Whistleblowers may be eligible to receive between 10 and 30 percent of the monetary sanctions collected. All whistleblower awards are paid from the CFTC’s Customer Protection Fund, which was established by Congress, and is financed entirely through monetary sanctions paid to the CFTC by violators of the CEA. No money is taken or withheld from injured customers to fund the program.
TLDRS:
- CFTC Awards Whistleblower More Than $300,000.
- This Means the Penalty Levied Ranged from $1-$3 million
- It pays to be a whistleblower!
- Since issuing its first award in 2014, the CFTC has granted whistleblower awards amounting to almost $350 million.
- Those awards are associated with enforcement actions from CFTC that have resulted in monetary sanctions totaling more than $3 billion.
- For comparison, since the inception of its program in 2012, the SEC has paid more than $1.3 billion in 300+ awards to whistleblowers.
