Facade of the SEC headquarters in Washington.Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US securities authority, has paid a reward of 114 million dollars (96.65 million euros) to an informant whose help and information led the agency to uncover and sanction a fraud case .
It is the largest reward ever granted by the Commission and more than double the previous record, of 50 million, paid to another whistleblower in June of this year.
As the SEC explains in a statement, in which it does not specify the nature of the fraud uncovered, the reward includes 52 million in relation to the case of the SEC itself and another 62 related to the measures taken by another agency, which it does not specify.
"Today's milestone is a testament to the Commission's commitment to reward confidants who provide high-quality information to the agency," said SEC Chairman Jay Clayton.
"Informants make important contributions to enforcing the law and we are determined to get more money to informants as quickly and efficiently as possible," he added.
"The acts of the informant rewarded today were extraordinary," said Jane Norberg, head of the SEC's Office for Confidants, who runs the whistleblower program called Whistleblower (informant or informant, in English).
"After internally reporting his suspicions, and despite personal and professional difficulties, the informant alerted the SEC and the other agency of the irregularities and provided substantial and constant assistance that proved key to the success of the measures" taken by the agency, which does not detail.
Since 2012, the SEC has awarded rewards of $ 676 million (€ 573 million) to 108 snitches.
After the record of 114 million this Thursday, there are rewards of 50 million paid in June of this year and in March 2018, and another of 39 million in September 2018. According to the SEC website, since its implementation march have received more than 26,000 tips and have collected more than 2,000 million dollars in sanctions.
The state of California, with more than 2,000 tips, has been the most collaborative, ahead of New York (950) and Florida (892).
Tips are also received from abroad, with the United Kingdom leading, with 523, followed by Canada (446) and China (278).
Payments come from a fund established by Congress that is financed entirely from monetary penalties paid by violators of the trading rules.
Confidants can claim these rewards when they voluntarily provide original, credible and timely information that leads the agency to the success of its investigations.
Sneaks can take between 10 and 30% of the money collected when the penalties imposed exceed one million dollars.
Their names remain anonymous and their identity is protected by the SEC.