The Securities and Exchange Commission has received 334 tips from whistleblowers for fiscal year 2011, according to the annual report released today by the agency. The SEC clarified that since the final rules governing the establishment of its Office of the Whistleblower went into effect on Aug. 12, the data collected only reflects reported activities from then through Sept. 30.

Of the 334 complaints received by the Commission, the top three concerns were related to market manipulation (16.2 percent), corporate disclosures and financial statements (15.3 percent), and fraud related to securities offerings (15.6 percent). Other allegations reported to the SEC include matters related to trading and pricing (5.1 percent), insider trading (7.5 percent), the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (3.9), municipal securities and public pensions (2.7), unregistered offerings (5.4), market events (3.3), and other topics (23.7).

So far, no awards have been paid out as part of the SEC's bounty program. However, it did mention that a total of 170 applicable enforcement judgments and orders were issued from July 21, 2010 through July 31, 2011 that included the imposed sanctions exceeding the statutory threshold of $1 million. “Because the 90-day application period had not passed with respect to any Notices of Covered Actions as of the end of the fiscal year, applications for awards had not yet been processed,” the report said.

Typically, the Office of the Whistleblower will have to issue Notices of Covered Actions following the entry of an award judgment or order. Tipsters will have 90 days to fill out the reward application form, Form WB-APP, from the issuance of the notice to claim their rewards. The 90-day deadline for all applications for the initial list of Covered Actions is Nov. 11.

The Commission also reported that as of Sept. 30, it has more than $452 million in its coffers available to fund its whistleblower award program. Under the Dodd-Frank Act provision, the SEC has to establish an Investor Protection Fund to provide funding for the whistleblower award program and payments of awards in related actions. The fund will also be used to finance the operations of the Office of the Inspector General's program including suggestions from the Commission staff on ways to improve the SEC's work efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity.