Two pairs of whistleblowers claim separate SEC awards totaling $122M

Two pairs of claimants will receive whistleblower awards totaling more than $98 million and $24 million, respectively, for information they provided to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that led to an enforcement action.

The $98 million award was split between two claimants, with the first receiving $82 million and the second $16 million, the agency announced in a press release Friday. The $24 million award was also split between two claimants, with the first receiving $4 million and the second $20 million, the SEC announced in a separate press release Monday.

The lopsided award totals provide a window into what the SEC considers most important when determining the size of awards. As is required under the Dodd-Frank Act, neither the whistleblowers nor the company associated with the action were named in order to protect the anonymity of the whistleblowers. The awards represent 10 to 30 percent of the federal penalty that the company will pay.