The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday announced a $279 million award to a whistleblower, the largest the agency has ever given someone who stepped forward with information benefiting an SEC investigation.

The agency said the whistleblower, who was not named, gave information and assistance that led to the successful enforcement of SEC and related actions. The award more than doubled the previous whistleblower award of $114 million issued in October 2020.

"The size of today's award -- the highest in our program's history -- not only incentivizes whistleblowers to come forward with accurate information about potential securities law violations but also reflects the tremendous success of our whistleblower program," said Gurbir S. Grewal, director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement in a statement.

"This success directly benefits investors, as whistleblower tips have contributed to enforcement actions resulting in orders requiring bad actors to disgorge more than $4 billion in ill-gotten gains and interest. As this award shows, there is a significant incentive for whistleblowers to come forward with accurate information about potential securities law violations."

Creola Kelly, chief of the SEC's Office of the Whistleblower, said the person the agency worked with in the current case gave multiple interviews and provided written submissions, which proved critical in the probe.

"While the whistleblower's information did not prompt the opening of the commission's investigation, their information expanded the scope of the misconduct charged," Kelly said.

The SEC said whistleblowers may be eligible for an award when they voluntarily provide the SEC with original, timely and credible information that leads to a successful enforcement action, and adhere to filing requirements in the whistleblower rules.

The SEC's whistleblower program was created by Congress to provide monetary incentives for individuals to come forward and report possible violations of the federal securities laws to the SEC. Whistleblowers are entitled to an award of 10-30% of the monetary sanctions collected in actions brought by the SEC. (Text, excluding headline: UPI)

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