The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced it is awarding $54 million to two whistleblowers, whose critical information and continued assistance helped the agency bring an enforcement action. One whistleblower will receive an award of $39 million—the second-largest award in the history of the SEC’s whistleblower program—and the second whistleblower will receive an award of $15 million.

Jaclyn Jaeger is a freelance contributor to Compliance Week after working for the company for 15 years. She writes on a wide variety of topics, including ethics and compliance, risk management, legal,...