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SEC Pays Unknown Foreign Whistleblower Record $30 Million Award

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Did someone finally inform the SEC that Bernie Madoff's business model has been adopted by every central bank in the "developed world?" Whatever the reason for today's record SEC award, which almost certainly has to do with HFT, a topic which this blog first brought to light back in 2009 when nobody had a clue what algo/high frequency trading is, congratulations to the lucky winner (unless of course it has to do with someone spilling the beans on US tax evaders in Swiss banks), and our condolences to the banks, because now that one can comfortably retire by informing the regulators of the pervasive crime that takes place within the US financial system on a daily basis, suddenly every disgruntled person laid off by the US banking sector is the next potential $30 million aware recipient.

From the SEC:

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an expected award of more than $30 million to a whistleblower who provided key original information that led to a successful SEC enforcement action.

The award will be the largest made by the SEC’s whistleblower program to date and the fourth award to a whistleblower living in a foreign country, demonstrating the program’s international reach.

“This whistleblower came to us with information about an ongoing fraud that would have been very difficult to detect,” said Andrew Ceresney, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.  “This record-breaking award sends a strong message about our commitment to whistleblowers and the value they bring to law enforcement.”

Sean McKessy, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, added, “This award of more than $30 million shows the international breadth of our whistleblower program as we effectively utilize valuable tips from anyone, anywhere to bring wrongdoers to justice.  Whistleblowers from all over the world should feel similarly incentivized to come forward with credible information about potential violations of the U.S. securities laws.”

The SEC’s whistleblower program rewards high-quality, original information that results in an SEC enforcement action with sanctions exceeding $1 million.  Whistleblower awards can range from 10 percent to 30 percent of the money collected in a case.  The money paid to whistleblowers comes from an investor protection fund established by Congress at no cost to taxpayers or harmed investors.  The fund is financed through monetary sanctions paid by securities law violators to the SEC.  Money is not taken or withheld from harmed investors to pay whistleblower awards.

By law, the SEC protects the confidentiality of whistleblowers and does not disclose information that might directly or indirectly reveal a whistleblower’s identity.  The previous high for an SEC award to a whistleblower was $14 million, which was announced in October 2013.  

The SEC awarded its first whistleblower under the program following its inception in fiscal year 2012.  The program awarded four more whistleblowers in FY 2013, and has awarded nine whistleblowers in FY 2014.

“We’re pleased with the consistent yearly growth in the number of award recipients since the program’s inception,” Mr. McKessy said.

 

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Mon, 09/22/2014 - 13:15 | 5243603 Pladizow
Pladizow's picture

What if it was Corzine?

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 13:29 | 5243658 knukles
knukles's picture

Y'all get this one?

"Sean McKessy, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower"

Chief of the Office of the Whistleblower?
I do so ever hope that's a joke.
I mean the name.
It's almost as if they were establishing it in name only, demeaning name only....

 

seriously?

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 13:47 | 5243752 cifo
cifo's picture

Like Jack Ma, he did not miss the opportunity when he saw it.

 

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 14:38 | 5243974 Bohm Squad
Bohm Squad's picture

Firms fleece their clients, gov fleeces the firms.

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 14:53 | 5244030 SeattleBruce
SeattleBruce's picture

"HFT, a topic which this blog first brought to light back in 2009 when nobody had a clue what algo/high frequency trading is, congratulations to the lucky winner"

Tylers, you're not sore that you didn't get the fiat, R U?  OK, mebbe it stings a little...;)

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 15:17 | 5244103 espirit
espirit's picture

The $30 Mil is just hush money.

Obviously, this dude had Snowden Revelations about the banking system and was tucked in tight where the Banksters couldn't get to him.

 

Nope, no nailguns this time. 

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 14:16 | 5243886 SAT 800
SAT 800's picture

The only thing they'll ever pay for is a list of US Tax "Evaders". Nothing else matters to them. Sorry to rain on the parade.

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 14:52 | 5244028 Steaming_Wookie_Doo
Steaming_Wookie_Doo's picture

Yeah, but don't ever point out Bill Gates, Mitt Romney, Soros or any other large scale evasions-- them's the RIGHT kinda folks...

In other events, Banco Santander head dies http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/09/10/banco-santander-chairman-emilio-b...

Yeah he was old, but was it "helped along"?

You'd think Harry Markopoulos, who tagged Madoff first-- and had to submit evidence to the SEC a couple of times before anyone bothered to do anything-- should've gotten a big check and a big thank you. But suddenly $30 mil offshore & anonymous, sheesh, that's some kind of slush fund. I doubt it was London Whale [or anything else] related.

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 13:16 | 5243609 astoriajoe
astoriajoe's picture

Bart Chilton found a loophole.

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 14:18 | 5243889 teslaberry
teslaberry's picture

most definitley. i met him on the street and chatted with him. he is an expert fooler. i can see right through that shit but that's cause i've been getting my phd at z.h.u.

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 13:19 | 5243618 seek
seek's picture

And in two weeks, the Cartels that had their HSBC accounts seized give the whistleblower payback, too.

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 13:27 | 5243659 Mi Naem
Mi Naem's picture

Yup, it's not like the banks won't know who it is, and where the money is. 

Uncivil forfeiture. 

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 13:25 | 5243630 Mi Naem
Mi Naem's picture

"suddenly every disgruntled person laid off by the US banking sector is the next potential $30 million aware recipient."  

I don't think so. 

Long nail guns and rooftop accidents. 

 

Of course, my biggest concern would be that banks may now have assets confiscated without due process.  Bwwaaaaahahahahahahaha!  http://www.forbes.com/2011/06/08/property-civil-forfeiture.html

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 14:57 | 5244038 SeattleBruce
SeattleBruce's picture

"Of course, my biggest concern would be that banks may now have assets confiscated without due process.  Bwwaaaaahahahahahahaha!"

Hey, banks are people too...oh...

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 13:23 | 5243637 kchrisc
kchrisc's picture

I wonder how much they would pay me for my knowledge of the crimes and theft at MF Global, especially how the CEO, Corzine, plundered the accounts of their clients?!

$30Mil. would sure build a lot of guillotines.

An American, not US subject.

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 13:23 | 5243643 WTFUD
WTFUD's picture

What about the ' honor among' thieves ' meme?

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 13:40 | 5243700 alexcojones
alexcojones's picture

The SEC.

Most people do Not know (even most New Yorkers), that the SEC Records building was . . . wait for it. . . WTC-7.

I want a Real whistle blower to come forth and say. "Yeah, WTC-7 was blown up to destroy incriminating records, and to protect the peeps with $$$$$ and as a massive insurance scam.

9/11: Wall Street, SEC files lost in WTC 7 collapse
Mon, 09/22/2014 - 15:38 | 5244192 detached.amusement
detached.amusement's picture

+93

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 22:18 | 5245680 kchrisc
kchrisc's picture

New acquaintance, friend of a friend, was giving me some grief recently about my concerns for Ashkenazi domination in positions and "junctions" of power.

Now he said that he had some doubts about 9/11 being an inside job. So I told him to research Larry Silverstein* and 9/11. Nothing more.

I saw him yesterday and he said that he was shocked. He said what really floored him was Silverstein's* demand for and award of "double occurrence' in addition to the "clockwork" timing of the lease, signing, insurance, etc.

Another one stirs awake.

An American, not US subject.

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 13:38 | 5243707 joego1
joego1's picture

Wow! that means that all the Tylers must be due atleast a billion or so for reporting all of the daylight robberies going on.

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 13:39 | 5243716 IronShield
IronShield's picture

Snitches get stitches Bitchez!

Always hated fuckers like that.  SEC, do your fucking job and stop surfing porno all day!  You useless fuks!

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 13:47 | 5243726 alexcojones
alexcojones's picture

A REAL whistle blower would say something like this:

"We did it, and now what are you bitchezz going to do about it? Anything? Thought so."

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 13:43 | 5243739 TN Jed
TN Jed's picture

Call me jaded, but I can't imagine this info just now came to them from one person who bravely deserves $30M.  I'm more likely to believe this info was going to be acted upon and they took the opportunity to shuffle some money to whomever.

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 16:40 | 5244486 SeattleBruce
SeattleBruce's picture

Adding further to your 'jaded' comment, don't you think the SEC wants to do something, anything to make it appear they are doing anything related to their jobs.  Seems like a PR move, since there are some many banking companies/execs the SEC and Justice will not touch.  Too big to jail.  More like 'too cushy to jail' (TCTJ).

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 13:44 | 5243742 wcvarones
wcvarones's picture

I'm  guessing the Allen Stanford case.

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 14:15 | 5243882 NotApplicable
NotApplicable's picture

Which would be funny, given that ponzi schemes shouldn't be that hard to recognize. Especially massive ones like this one.

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 13:44 | 5243744 Yancey Ward
Yancey Ward's picture

Did someone finally inform the SEC that Bernie Madoff's business model has been adopted by every central bank in the "developed world?"

 

No, doing this gets you "suicided".

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 13:52 | 5243787 gjp
gjp's picture

Help the SEC prosecute cases against non-domestic financial institutions and get a piece of the spoils for helping the home side on the financial front.

#winning

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 14:02 | 5243823 RaceToTheBottom
RaceToTheBottom's picture

I thought this sort of money was delivered after convictions?

Should be easy to trace back to the one or two convictions the SEC did in the last hundred years.  

Probably not for the Martha conviction....

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 14:03 | 5243829 forrestdweller
forrestdweller's picture

I am afraid that 50 cents was right.

 

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 14:18 | 5243831 AGuy
AGuy's picture

"The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an expected award of more than $30 million to a whistleblower who provided key original information that led to a successful SEC enforcement action."

Translation: Someone had dirt on someone important in Gov't.

Otherwise this would be a complete reversal to SEC SOP. Normally they imprision the whisleblower!

 

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 14:06 | 5243844 seek
seek's picture

So:

The Commission is authorized by Congress to provide monetary awards to eligible individuals who come forward with high-quality original information that leads to a Commission enforcement action in which over $1,000,000 in sanctions is ordered. The range for awards is between 10% and 30% of the money collected.

$30M/10% = $300M and $30M/30% = $100M.

Checking recent news: Standard Chartered.

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 14:19 | 5243896 SAT 800
SAT 800's picture

Possible.

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 15:30 | 5244156 espirit
espirit's picture

I wonder if the SEC does a lottery drawing of the banks around bonus time?

Bogus whistleblower, fine misdeeds, distribute rewards.

 

Win, win.

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 14:27 | 5243931 Otto Zitte
Otto Zitte's picture

This should significantly increase the mortality rate of banksters... good.

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 14:37 | 5243973 Fuku Ben
Fuku Ben's picture

Which of you Americanos is going to FOIA request the documents to find out what's going on and who it is?

You know they'll screw up on the redactions. Bureaucrats are notoriously incompetent.

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 18:12 | 5244876 honestann
honestann's picture

The SEC does not protect the identity of whistle-blowers from Obama... who just tasked 3 predator drones to take out the whistle-blower before he receives his check.

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