Today, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) broke new a record when it issued a whistleblower award of $600,000 to an individual, bringing the total amount of awards granted in FY 2021 to $176 million, outpacing the total amount of money awarded in the entirety of any other fiscal year.

According to the award order, the SEC whistleblower met with the Commission staff multiple times, provided “critical investigative leads,” and brought highly valuable information to the SEC.

Since October 2020, the SEC has awarded 28 whistleblowers with over $176 million. The previous highest-award total was set in FY 2020, when the SEC issued $175 million in whistleblower awards.

“The SEC Program is clearly on the right trend,” said whistleblower attorney Stephen M. Kohn, partner at qui tam law firm Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto. “Every year, more whistleblowers come forward with information of fraud because they know their identities will be protected. We applaud the SEC Whistleblower Program and hope other agencies follow in their footsteps.”

The SEC Whistleblower Program was established under the Dodd Frank Act of 2010 and provides for anonymous and confidential award filings. Since issuing its first award in 2012, the Program has granted 134 whistleblowers with awards totaling over $738 million.

“We hope these awards continue to encourage individuals with information regarding possible securities laws violations to report to the Commission,” said Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower.

Ben Kostyack also contributed to this article.