Securities and Exchange Commission Office of the Whistleblower 

Annual Report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2023 

November 14, 2023 

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Whistleblower Program continued to 

grow and strengthen in Fiscal Year (FY) 2023, establishing new records for the Program. In FY 

2023, the Commission awarded nearly $600 million—the highest annual total by dollar value in 

the Program’s history—to 68 individual whistleblowers.1 These totals include a single award for 

almost $279 million—the largest in the history of the Program. The SEC has now awarded more 

than $1.9 billion to 397 individual whistleblowers since the beginning of the Program in 2011. 

The impact of the Whistleblower Program was evident in the unprecedented level of public 

participation in the Program in FY 2023. The Commission received more than 18,000 

whistleblower tips in FY 2023, almost 50% more than the previous record set in FY 2022. The 

Commission also received a record number of applications for awards in FY 2023. 

This increase in public participation in the Program has occurred as the SEC’s Division 

of Enforcement has vigorously pursued enforcement actions against those who impede 

whistleblowers from reporting to the SEC or who retaliate against whistleblowers. In FY 2023, 

the Division brought five actions under Rule 21F-17,2

 including one that resulted in the highest 

penalty to date for a stand-alone action for violation of the anti-impeding rule. 

“We saw three strands of the Whistleblower Program come together in FY 2023—record 

award amounts, unprecedented public participation, and strong enforcement of whistleblower 

protections,” said Creola Kelly, Chief of the Office of the Whistleblower (OWB). “The data 

show that whistleblowers are increasingly incentivized to come forward with their information 

about potential securities law violations, which is a testament to the strength of the Program.” 

Claims for Awards 

In FY 2023, the Commission granted awards in 40 Covered Actions,

3 including the 

following noteworthy awards: 

1 The total dollar amount includes six awards that the Commission issued in connection with related actions pursuant 

to Rule 21F-11 of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. The number of individuals awarded includes each joint 

whistleblower awarded. If the Commission issues awards to a single whistleblower in two or more final orders, 

those awards are counted separately for the purposes of determining the number of individuals awarded. 

2 Section 21F of the Exchange Act and Rule 21F-17 thereunder. 

3 Generally, OWB posts Notices of Covered Action for each SEC action where a final judgment or order, by itself 

or together with other prior judgments or orders in the same action issued after July 21, 2010, results in monetary 

sanctions exceeding $1 million. See Exchange Act Rule 21F-10(a). The Commission may order an award in more 

than one covered action as part of a single final order. 

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• Whistleblower tip leads to massive monetary sanctions. In earning an almost $279 

million award, the largest in the history of the Program, a whistleblower provided 

information and substantial ongoing assistance to a Commission investigation and 

another federal agency’s investigation.4 

• Multiple whistleblowers share $104 million award. Seven whistleblowers, including 

foreign nationals, received awards for reporting misconduct at an entity’s subsidiaries in 

three jurisdictions. The total award, which included an award for contributions to related 

actions brought by another federal agency, was the fourth largest in the history of the 

Program.5 

• Whistleblower tip leads to an enforcement action returning money to investors. A 

whistleblower’s information was of great significance to an investigation that led to an 

enforcement action and resulted in the return of a large amount of money to harmed 

investors.6 

• A whistleblower’s persistence pays off. A whistleblower who made “persistent efforts 

to remedy” misconduct and caused Enforcement staff to open an investigation was 

awarded $9 million; another whistleblower, who made an important, but lesser, 

contribution to the success of the investigation, was awarded $3 million.7 

• Whistleblowers working together to stop a fraud. Two whistleblowers, although not 

joint claimants, provided complementary information about an ongoing fraud. One 

provided accounting records to Enforcement staff and the other reported 

misrepresentations made to them as a potential investor in the scheme.8 

4 Order Determining Whistleblower Award, Exchange Act Release No. 97438, File No. 2023-55 (May 5, 2023), 

https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/other/2023/34-97438.pdf. 

5 Order Determining Whistleblower Award, Exchange Act Release No. 98054, File No. 2023-75 (Aug. 4, 2023), 

https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/other/2023/34-98054.pdf. 

6 Order Determining Whistleblower Award, Exchange Act Release No. 96178, File No. 2023-7 (Oct. 31, 2022), 

https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/other/2022/34-96178.pdf. 

7 Order Determining Whistleblower Award, Exchange Act Release No. 97229, File No. 2023-48 (Mar. 31, 2023), 

https://www.sec.gov/files/award-orders-33123 0.pdf. 

8 Order Determining Whistleblower Award, Exchange Act Release No. 96076, File No. 2023-3 (Oct. 14, 2022), 

https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/other/2022/34-96076.pdf. 

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5, 2023 

August 4, 2023 

December 19, 2022 

January 24, 2023 

December 12, 2022 

Top Five Awards of FY 20239 

Determining Award Percentages 

The Whistleblower Rule Amendments that became effective in December 2020 created a 

presumption of a maximum 30% award in certain circumstances where the Commission does not 

reasonably anticipate a maximum award would exceed $5 million. For covered actions where 

the maximum award would have been $5 million or less, the Commission applied the 

presumption nearly 90% of the time in FY 2023. Almost one-third of the awards issued in FY 

2023 were ineligible for the presumption because a maximum award would have exceeded $5 

million. 

If the presumption of a maximum award is not applicable, the Commission determines 

the appropriate award percentage based on the factors in Exchange Act Rules 21F-6(a) and (b). 

The Commission also considers these factors when apportioning an award between meritorious 

claimants, including if the maximum-award presumption applies.10 

• Positive Factors that May Increase an Award: 

o Significance of the information. This factor is a critical driver of the award 

percentage and, in certain circumstances, could be the most important factor when 

apportioning award amounts between two or more meritorious whistleblowers, as 

the Commission often focuses on the relative significance (and timing) of the 

9 Order Determining Whistleblower Award, Exchange Act Release No. 97438, File No. 2023-55 (May 5, 2023) 

https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/other/2023/34-97438.pdf; Order Determining Whistleblower Award, Exchange Act 

Release No. 98054, File No. 2023-75 (Aug. 4, 2023) https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/other/2023/34-98054.pdf; 

Order Determining Whistleblower Award, Exchange Act Release No. 96527, File No. 2023-21 (Dec. 19, 2022) 

https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/other/2022/34-96527.pdf; Order Determining Whistleblower Award, Exchange Act 

Release No. 96739, File No. 2023-32 (Jan. 24, 2023) https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/other/2023/34-96739.pdf; 

Order Determining Whistleblower Award, Exchange Act Release No. 96474, File No. 2023-20 (Dec. 12, 2022) 

https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/other/2022/34-96474.pdf. 

10 For a more detailed overview of the award process, please see OWB’s annual report for FY 2021, which is 

available on OWB’s website at https://www.sec.gov/whistleblower/resources. 

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whistleblowers’ submissions. 

o Assistance provided by the whistleblower(s). Whistleblower assistance can 

come at any stage of an investigation and can include helping staff decipher 

complex transactions, identifying key witnesses, documents or other sources of 

information, and communicating with staff and certain other authorities when 

appropriate. Whistleblowers may also assist during the litigation phase of an 

enforcement action. 

o Law enforcement interest. The law enforcement interest may be high when the 

whistleblower provides information about ongoing violations that are harming 

investors, such as misappropriation of investor funds. The law enforcement 

interest may also be high for securities violations with elements occurring abroad, 

which may be more difficult for Commission staff to detect or to gather evidence 

about without a whistleblower’s cooperation. 

o Participation in internal compliance or reporting systems. While claimants 

are not required to report internally, their award percentage may be increased if 

they do so. 

• Negative Factors that May Decrease an Award 

o Unreasonable reporting delay. In FY 2023, the Commission reduced the award 

percentages of five whistleblowers who unreasonably delayed in reporting. The 

Commission continues to emphasize the importance of timely reporting, which 

allows the Commission to act quickly to protect investors, to gather evidence 

before it becomes harder to access, and to bring claims for relief before they are 

time-barred. 

o Culpability. The Commission reduced one award in FY 2023 due to the 

whistleblower’s participation in or benefit from the underlying misconduct. 

o Interference with internal reporting systems. No award was reduced in FY 

2023 on account of this factor. 

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FY2022 

FY2021 

FY2020 

FY2019 

FY2018 

FY2017 

FY2016 

FY2015 

FY2014 

FY2013 

FY2012 

0 

4,484 

4,218 

3,923 

3,620 

3,238 

3,001 

3,000 

5,212 

5,282 

6,000 

18,354 

12,322 

12,21 0 

6,911 

9,000 12,000 15,000 18,000 21,000 

Increase in Whistleblower Tips 

In FY 2023, the Commission received 18,354 whistleblower tips. The table below shows 

the number of whistleblower tips received by the Commission on a yearly basis since the 

inception of the Whistleblower Program.11 

• Nature of Whistleblower Allegations 

The record number of whistleblower tips the Commission received in FY 2023 alleged a 

variety of misconduct. The most common complaint categories reported by whistleblowers were 

Manipulation (24%), Offering Fraud (19%), Initial Coin Offerings and Crypto Asset Securities 

(14%), and Corporate Disclosures and Financials (10%).12 The following graph reflects the 

number of whistleblower tips received in FY 2023 by allegation category.

13 

11 The Commission also receives tips from individuals who do not elect to be part of the Whistleblower Program. 

The data in this report is limited to whistleblower tips and does not reflect all tips or complaints received by the 

Commission during the fiscal year. 

12 This breakdown reflects the categories selected by whistleblowers and, thus, the data represents each 

whistleblower’s own characterization of the violation category. 

13 There were also 4,591 whistleblower tips for which no allegation category was selected by the whistleblower on 

the TCR. 

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4,000 

3,000 

2,000 

1,000 

0 

4,337 

Manipulation Offering 

Fraud 

Initial Coin 

Offerings and 

Crypto Asset 

Securities 

Corporate 

Disclosure and 

Financials 

Insider 

Trading Trading and 

Pricing 

Unregistered 

offerings 

Market 

Event 

FCPA 

47 

Municipal 

securities and 

public pension 

Finally, the Whistleblower Program has become fundamentally international in character, 

with tips received from all over the world. In FY 2023, the foreign countries from which the 

highest number of tips originated were Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, and 

India. Domestically, the states from which the highest number of tips originated were Florida, 

South Carolina, California, Texas, and New York. 

Enforcement of Whistleblower Protections 

Ensuring that individuals are free to report potential securities-related misconduct to the 

Commission without reprisal is crucial to the Whistleblower Program. The Commission is 

committed to enforcing both the rule against actions to impede reporting14 and the anti14 See Exchange Act Rule 21F-17, which provides in relevant part that, “[n]o person may take any action to impede 

an individual from communicating directly with the Commission staff about a possible securities law violation....” 

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retaliation protections.15 To date, the SEC has brought 21 enforcement actions involving 

violations of Rule 21F-17 and five anti-retaliation enforcement actions. 

Notably, in FY 2023, the Commission brought an action against Gaia, Inc., an internet 

streaming company, charging the company with retaliation violations and with violating Rule 

21F-17.16 The Commission found that the company retaliated, in violation of Section 21F(h)(1), 

against an employee (including firing the employee) who repeatedly reported internally to 

management both before and after filing a complaint with the Commission. The Commission 

further found that Gaia violated the Commission’s rule against impeding reporting by including 

provisions in certain severance agreements that required departing employees to waive any 

potential right to a whistleblower award. 

Additionally, the Commission brought a number of actions this fiscal year arising from 

employment-related agreements that violated Rule 21F-17, including an action that resulted in a 

$10 million civil penalty, the largest ever for a stand-alone Rule 21F-17 action.17 In that case, 

the Commission charged registered investment advisor D.E. Shaw & Co., L.P. for requiring new 

employees to sign agreements that prohibited them from disclosing “Confidential Information” 

to anyone outside of the company unless authorized by the company or required by law or an 

order of a court or other regulatory or governmental body. This prohibition did not include any 

exception for voluntary communications with the Commission concerning possible securities 

laws violations. D.E. Shaw also required many departing employees to sign a release in 

exchange for the receipt of certain deferred compensation and other benefits affirming that, 

among other things, the employee had not filed any complaints with any governmental agency. 

The Commission also found the following entities to have violated Rule 21F-17: 

• Activision Blizzard, Inc., a video game development and publishing company, because of 

its use of separation agreements that required former employees to notify the company of 

any request for information from the Commission’s staff.18 

15 See Section 21F(h)(1) of the Exchange Act, which prohibits an employer from taking retaliatory actions, either 

directly or indirectly, against a whistleblower who makes a report to the Commission in accordance with the 

Exchange Act; and Exchange Act Rule 21F-2, which provides anti-retaliation protection to whistleblowers who 

reasonably believe that the information they provide to the Commission relates to a possible violation of the federal 

securities laws and provide that information in a manner described in Section 21F(h)(1)(A) of the Exchange Act. 

16 See In the Matter of Gaia, Inc. & Paul C. Tarell, Jr., CPA, File No. 3-21438 (May 23, 2023), 

https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/admin/2023/33-11196.pdf. 

17 See In the Matter of D.E. Shaw & Co., L.P., File No. 3-21775 (Sept. 29, 2023), 

https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/admin/2013/34-70396.pdf. 

18 See In the Matter of Activision Blizzard, Inc., File No. 3-21294 (Feb. 3, 2023), 

https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/admin/2023/34-96796.pdf. 

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• CBRE, Inc., a commercial real estate services and investment firm, because it required its 

employees, as a condition of receiving separation pay, to represent that they had not filed 

a complaint against CBRE with any federal agency.19 

• Monolith Resources, LLC, a privately held energy and technology company, because it 

required certain departing employees to waive their rights to monetary whistleblower 

awards.20 

OWB assists investigative and examinations staff in identifying actions that impeded 

individuals’ abilities to report potential wrongdoing to the Commission as well as assessing 

instances of adverse employment actions taken against employees. OWB continues to support 

enforcement investigations involving whistleblowers who may have suffered retaliation after 

reporting securities violations to the Commission. 

Investor Protection Fund 

Section 922 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act 

established the Investor Protection Fund (Fund) to provide funding for the Commission’s 

whistleblower award program, including the payment of awards in related actions.21 As required 

by statute, all payments are made out of the Fund, which is financed entirely through monetary 

sanctions paid to the SEC by securities law violators; no money is taken or withheld from 

harmed investors to pay whistleblower awards. The Fund also is used to finance the operations 

of the SEC’s Office of Inspector General to improve work efficiency and productivity.22 

Section 21F(g)(5) of the Exchange Act requires certain Fund information to be reported 

to Congress on an annual basis. Below is a chart containing Fund-related information for FY 

2023. 

19 See In the Matter of CBRE, Inc., File No. 3-21675 (Sept. 19, 2023), 

https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/admin/2023/34-98429.pdf. 

20 See In the Matter of Monolith Resources, LLC, File No. 3-21629 (Sept. 8, 2023), 

https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/admin/2023/34-98322.pdf. 

21 Section 21F(g)(2)(A) of the Exchange Act, 15 U.S.C. § 78u-6(g)(2)(A). 

22 Section 21F(g)(2)(B) of the Exchange Act, 15 U.S.C. § 78u-6(g)(2)(B), provides that the Fund shall be available 

to the Commission for “funding the activities of the Inspector General of the Commission under section 4(i).” 

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FY 2023 

Balance of Fund at beginning of fiscal year $306,367,793.90 

Unavailable amounts from FY 2022 available during fiscal year23 $23,398,757.00 

Amounts deposited into or credited to Fund during fiscal year $643,275,788.95 

Amounts of interest receipts from investments during fiscal $16,333,153.72 

year 

Amount of receipts during the fiscal year that are unavailable24 ($37,597,710.00) 

Amounts paid from Fund during fiscal year to whistleblowers ($321,533,048.90) 

Amounts estimated to be paid from Fund during fiscal year ($292,509,162.40) 

to whistleblowers25 

Amount disbursed to Office of the Inspector ($27,780.63) 

General during fiscal year 

Balance of Fund at end of fiscal year $337,707,791.64 

Section 21F(g)(5) of the Exchange Act also requires the Commission to provide a 

complete set of audited financial statements for the Fund,26 including a balance sheet, income 

sheet, income statement, and cash-flow analysis. That information will be included in the 

Commission’s Agency Financial Report, which will be separately submitted to Congress. 

* * * 

OWB maintains a hotline to respond to questions about the Program. Individuals may 

leave messages on the hotline by calling (202) 551-4790. Calls are typically returned by 

OWB staff within three business days. OWB returned more than 3,500 calls from the public 

in FY 2023, about 1,000 more than in FY 2022. 

To report a potential securities law violation or for general information about the 

Program, please visit OWB’s webpage at www.sec.gov/whistleblower. 

23 Amounts relate to available resources temporarily reduced during the fiscal year as a result of the Budget Control 

Act of 2011. These amounts become available at the beginning of the following fiscal year. 

24 Id. 

25 The positive number in this line reflects the lower awards payable balance as of September 30, 2023, compared to 

the awards payable balance at the end of FY 2022. 

26 For a complete description of the mechanisms that Congress established to replenish the Fund, see Section 

21F(g)(3) of the Exchange Act, 15 U.S.C. § 78-6(g)(3). 

9