Securities and Exchange Commission Whistleblower Program

The numbers investors receive can look convincing while someone inside the business knows what was left out. Perhaps you know why revenue was recorded early, where an investment fund’s money went, or who approved a misleading disclosure. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Whistleblower Program gives eligible people whose original information helps the government enforce securities law a share of the money collected. The starting point for us is what you know about the business and why it matters. The SEC explains the program’s award authority.

What the SEC Whistleblower Program Covers

The SEC enforces federal securities laws. Its whistleblower program reaches information about possible violations, including misleading corporate disclosures, investment offering fraud and market manipulation. Those were among the categories reported in the agency’s fiscal 2025 annual report. A financial statement, a sales presentation and a trading instruction can each tell a different part of the story.

An insider’s contribution can go well beyond identifying a suspicious transaction. In one case described in that report, a whistleblower helped the SEC understand complicated transactions and relationships among businesses, identify witnesses and locate documents. The value was in explaining connections investigators could not readily see. That is the kind of understanding we work to develop with you.

Bribery involving companies that issue securities can also fall within the SEC’s enforcement authority. Our Foreign Corrupt Practices Act field connects the overseas payment to the company’s books and the SEC’s enforcement role. Our page on SEC whistleblower awards for foreign bribery explains how an insider’s knowledge can contribute to that case.

Misconduct involving commodities or derivatives may instead fall under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s whistleblower program. We assess which program fits the market and conduct you understand.

SEC Whistleblower Awards

The ordinary award range is 10% to 30% of monetary sanctions collected in a qualifying action. The program requires voluntary, original information that leads to a successful SEC enforcement action with more than $1 million in monetary sanctions, and it can also cover qualifying related actions. Those conditions come from the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. What your information contributes and which recoveries qualify matter to the award.

The SEC reported more than $60 million awarded in fiscal 2025. In fiscal 2024, it reported more than $255 million.

How the SEC Program Developed

Congress created the program on July 21, 2010, through Dodd-Frank. The SEC adopted its implementing rules on May 25, 2011, and those rules took effect on August 12, 2011.

The SEC adopted rule amendments on September 23, 2020. On August 26, 2022, it adopted two further changes, effective October 3, 2022: awards for related non-SEC actions became available in more circumstances, and the SEC could consider an award’s dollar amount only to increase it, not reduce it.

Your Knowledge, Your Whistleblower Case

Questions about anonymity, retaliation, eligibility, overlapping programs or the size of a possible award belong in a confidential conversation with us. You can begin with the facts you understand, even if you do not yet know which securities rule they involve. Our experience as whistleblowers shapes how we work with you.

WJN is a team of whistleblower experts with more than 20 years of experience, working alongside legal counsel. We develop the facts with you, help assemble the right legal team and remain your partners throughout the case. Speak with our whistleblower experts about building your strongest SEC whistleblower case.