The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Tuesday announced a whistleblower award of more than $6 million to a tipster who voluntarily provided original information that led the CFTC to bring a successful enforcement action.

The CFTC, which provides confidentiality protections for all whistleblowers, said it opened its investigation upon receiving the whistleblower’s information, “which was specific, credible and timely.” The information resulted in charges filed against an entity for violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA). Four other tipsters that came forward regarding this case were denied whistleblower awards.

“This award—together with the many that have preceded it—shows that in its short history, the Commission’s Whistleblower Program has significantly strengthened our enforcement program,” CFTC Director of Enforcement James McDonald said in a news release. “The contribution that whistleblowers have made cannot be overstated. To use just one data point, whistleblowers have led the CFTC to obtain nearly $900 million in monetary relief.”

The CFTC’s Whistleblower Program was created under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. Since issuing its first award in 2014, the CFTC has now doled out over $110 million in whistleblower awards.

Whistleblowers are eligible to receive between 10 and 30 percent of the monetary sanctions collected, and all whistleblower awards are paid from the CFTC Customer Protection Fund, which is financed entirely through monetary sanctions paid to the CFTC by violators of the CEA.

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, enforcement, technology, and more.

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