The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) just released their Whistleblower Program report for the 2022 fiscal year. The Whistleblower Program incentivizes whistleblowers to report wrongdoing. The findings reveal that the program has been more successful than ever. Here’s an overview of the 2022 findings.

Over $6.3 billion in sanctions and $1.3 billion in awards

The Whistleblower Program not only incentivizes whistleblowers to make reports with financial awards, but it also offers protection against employer retaliation. Since the program began in 2012, the SEC has ordered for than $6.3 billion in monetary sanctions, $1.5 billion of which has or will be returned to harmed investors. $4 billion of those sanctions were for “disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and interest.”

In 2022, the SEC received 12,300 whistleblower tips, which is the highest amount they’ve had in a single year. Most of these tips deal with misconduct, including manipulation, offering fraud, initial coin offerings and cryptocurrencies and corporate disclosures and financial issues.

They also awarded about $229 million in 103 whistleblower awards. More than 90 percent of these awards were the maximum aggregate award (30 percent of the total monetary sanctions collected in the action).

Potential whistleblowers should note that unreasonably delaying their report can reduce the percentage of the award, or participates in or benefits from the misconduct. In 2022, eight whistleblowers were found to unreasonably delay, and three were found to have participated in or benefited from the misconduct. Whistleblowers who are convicted of criminal violations related to the action are completely ineligible to receive awards.

Finally, the report reminds potential whistleblowers that their assistance can come at any stage of the investigation, and may include helping the authorities identify key information, witnesses or help decipher information.

For more information about whistleblowing protections and awards, an experienced whistleblower attorney at Kardell Law Group can assist you. Reach out today to get started.