November.01.2021
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission awarded approximately $200 million to a single whistleblower earlier this month based on the individual’s “significant contribution” to the success of a CFTC action and two Related Actions by other enforcement agencies. This is not just the largest award of the CFTC to date under its Dodd-Frank whistleblower program, but larger than any award ever made to a single whistleblower by the SEC under Dodd-Frank. Although the Commission maintains whistleblower confidentiality and its award decision is heavily redacted, the Wall Street Journal reports that the whistleblower tip involved alleged LIBOR manipulation at Deutsche Bank.
Several key points about this award decision:
To date, whistleblower tips to the CFTC have contributed to enforcement actions resulting in more than $3 billion in monetary sanctions. While the SEC’s whistleblower bounty program has received more publicity, this record-breaking award serves as a reminder to all companies that may come under the jurisdiction of the CFTC that the CFTC also has a robust whistleblower bounty program under Dodd-Frank and the magnitude of this award will no doubt spur a new wave of tips filed with both regulators.
For more information about the whistleblower award provisions of Dodd-Frank, see Orrick’s treatise “Corporate Whistleblowing in the Sarbanes-Oxley/Dodd-Frank Era” published by PLI.