The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced an award of more than $9.2 million to a whistleblower who provided information that led to both a successful SEC enforcement action and successful related actions by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”).  According to the SEC, the whistleblower provided significant information about an ongoing fraud to the SEC that enabled a large amount of money to be returned to harmed investors.  The SEC then provided that information to DOJ, which secured a non-prosecution agreement (“NPA”)/deferred prosecution agreement (“DPA”) with the whistleblower’s assistance.

This award marks the first SEC whistleblower award based on a NPA or DPA with DOJ since the SEC’s whistleblower program rules were amended in December 2020.  Among other things, those amendments deem a DOJ NPA or DPA entered into after July 21, 2010 to be an administrative action that may be a “related action” that is eligible for a whistleblower award from the SEC.

Read the SEC press release here.

Click here to learn more about G&G’s whistleblower practice.