Late Friday, the SEC issued its 2013 Annual Report to Congress on the Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program. The SEC stated that in the program's third year of operation, the number of whistleblower tips and complaints received increased from 3,001 in FY 2012 to 3,238 in FY 2013. In addition, the SEC noted, FY 2013 brought with it the SEC's largest whistleblower award to date: a $14 million award issued on September 30, 2013.

The Annual Report also provides new details on the size of the Whistleblower Office and the tips that came into the SEC through the program in FY 2013 (which ended September 30, 2013). Specifically:

In addition to Sean X. McKessy, Chief of the Office, and Jane A. Norberg, Deputy Chief, the Whistleblower Office is currently staffed by nine attorneys and three paralegals.

The most common complaint categories were Corporate Disclosures and Financials (17.2%), Offering Fraud (17.1%), and Manipulation (16.2%).

The Commission received whistleblower submissions from individuals in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The highest number of whistleblower tips originated in California (375), New York (215) and Florida (187).

The Commission received whistleblower submissions from individuals in 55 foreign countries, including 66 submissions from the United Kingdom, 62 from Canada and 52 from the People's Republic of China.

The Commission has now granted awards to six whistleblowers since the program was launched in August

2011, with four of those awards coming in FY 2013.

At the end of FY 2013, the SEC's fund from which it may pay whistleblowers under Dodd-Frank had a balance of over $439 million.

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