May 09, 2023 10:45:00

The US Securities and Exchange Commission paid about 37 billion yen, the highest amount in bounty history, to the company's whistleblower

On May 5, 2023

, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) awarded a record $279 million to corporate whistleblowers whose information provided them with regulatory enforcement action. (approximately 37 billion yen) has been announced.

SEC.gov | SEC Issues Largest-Ever Whistleblower Award
https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-89

SEC issues largest ever whistleblower award of $279 million | Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-sec-issues-largest-ever-whistleblower-award-279-mln-2023-05-05/

SEC Issues $279 Million Whistleblower Award, Its Largest Ever - WSJ

https://www.wsj.com/articles/sec-issues-279-million-whistleblower-award-its-largest-ever-517b9640

Under the rules set by the SEC, whistleblowers can receive 10 to 30% of the fine as a reward if the SEC collects more than $ 1 million (about 130 million yen) from the company.

The largest bounty to date was approximately $114 million (approximately ¥15.4 billion)

paid out in October 2020 , but this year's whistleblower bounty more than doubles that record. bottom.

'The bounty program is intended to incentivize whistleblowers to disclose information about potential securities law violations by companies,' said Gerbil Grewal, director of the SEC's enforcement division. 'This is the largest bounty payout in the history of any bounty program, so these results represent a major success for our whistleblowing program.'

According to the SEC, the whistleblower voluntarily provided confidential company information to the SEC, resulting in a successful regulatory enforcement action and two related actions pursuant to an arbitration order. About. In addition, the SEC has revealed that more than $ 4 billion (about 540 billion yen) of illegal profits and interest have been returned by information provided by whistleblowers. In addition, from the viewpoint of information provider protection and Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform / consumer protection law compliance, SEC does not disclose the name of the whistleblower or the name of the related company.

'Multiple interviews with the whistleblower and his continued support, including filing of documents, contributed to the success of this enforcement action,' said Cleora Kelly, director of the SEC's Office of Whistleblower Relations. It was essential,' he said.

“This enforcement action ruling and high bounty program could have a significant chilling effect on corporate fraud and fraud in the United States,” said whistleblower attorney Stephen Cohn. says.