The CFTC awarded approximately $7 million to an
individual whistleblower for information that led to a CFTC
investigation, which found a violation of the Commodity Exchange
Act.
In this instance, the CFTC received whistleblower applications
from five claimants. The CFTC recommended that only one of the
claimants receive a whistleblower award because that claimant
provided voluntary, original information, while the remaining
claimants did not provide any information used by the CFTC.
CFTC Director of Enforcement James McDonald explained that the
"award demonstrates how integral whistleblowers have become to
our enforcement efforts. Forty percent of our investigations now
involve whistleblowers. We expect that number to increase as the
CFTC continues to expand its whistleblower program."