S.E.C. Makes Largest Ever Whistle-Blower Award

The identity is a mystery, but someone who provided important information to regulators in a securities fraud enforcement action is suddenly $30 million richer thanks to a federal whistle-blower law. The Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Monday that it had approved a payment of between $30 million and $35 million to an unnamed individual who lives in a foreign country, for providing information that helped federal authorities “detect an ongoing fraud.” The award is the largest ever given out by S.E.C. under the whistle-blower law, which was enacted as part of the financial regulatory overhaul known as Dodd-Frank. The first such payout, in August 2012, was for nearly $50,000. More in the New York Times here.