On October 21, 2021, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) announced it would be awarding a whistleblower its largest, publicly-announced single award under the Dodd-Frank whistleblower rewards program—nearly $200 million. The whistleblower—who sources say worked for a major financial institution—provided extensive information and documents in 2012 that prompted the CFTC, another US regulator, and a foreign regulator to bring sizable enforcement actions related to benchmark manipulation. The CFTC’s order stated that the whistleblower’s information provided “direct evidence of wrongdoing” and led to a successful enforcement action, and also assisted two other regulatory actions. The record payment, according to the CFTC, reflects recognition of “a ‘meaningful nexus’ between the information provided and the CFTC’s ability to successfully complete its investigation.”

The attorney for the whistleblower, David Kovel, remarked that the award “may seem shocking” but attributed its amount to the shocking level of misconduct resulting in “huge profits” by those responsible for manipulating the market. The CFTC did not provide more specific details about the identity of the whistleblower or the related case that was assisted by the whistleblower. The incentives provided by government enforcement agencies continues to grow—just last month the SEC passed $1 billion total whistleblower awards—and such awards will continue to encourage new whistleblowers to come forward and drive new enforcement actions.

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CFTC Press Release

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