17 CFR 165.11 – Awards based upon related actions
(a) Provided that a whistleblower or whistleblowers comply with the requirements in §§ 165.3, 165.5 and 165.7, and pursuant to § 165.8, the Commission may grant an award based on the amount of monetary sanctions collected in a “Related Action” or “Related Actions”, where:
Terms Used In 17 CFR 165.11
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- monetary sanctions: when used with respect to any judicial or administrative action, or related action, means—
(1) Any monies, including penalties, disgorgement, restitution, and interest ordered to be paid; and
(2) Any monies deposited into a disgorgement fund or other fund pursuant to section 308(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 U. See 17 CFR 165.2
- original information: means information that—
(1) Is derived from the independent knowledge or independent analysis of a whistleblower;
(2) Is not already known to the Commission from any other source, unless the whistleblower is the original source of the information;
(3) Is not exclusively derived from an allegation made in a judicial or administrative hearing, in a governmental report, hearing, audit, or investigation, or from the news media, unless the whistleblower is a source of the information; and
(4) Is submitted to the Commission for the first time after July 21, 2010 (the date of enactment of the Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act of 2010). See 17 CFR 165.2
- related action: when used with respect to any judicial or administrative action brought by the Commission under the Commodity Exchange Act, means any judicial or administrative action brought by an entity listed in § 165. See 17 CFR 165.2
- successful resolution: when used with respect to any judicial or administrative action brought by the Commission under the Commodity Exchange Act, includes any settlement of such action or final judgment in favor of the Commission. See 17 CFR 165.2
- whistleblowers: means any individual, or two (2) or more individuals acting jointly, who provides information relating to a potential violation of the Commodity Exchange Act to the Commission, in the manner established by § 165. See 17 CFR 165.2
(1) A “Related Action” is a judicial or administrative action that is brought by:
(i) The Department of Justice;
(ii) An appropriate department or agency of the Federal Government, acting within the scope of its jurisdiction;
(iii) A registered entity, registered futures association, or self-regulatory organization (as defined in section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. § 78c(a));
(iv) A State criminal or appropriate civil agency, acting within the scope of its jurisdiction; or
(v) A foreign futures authority; and
(2) The “Related Action” is based on the original information that the whistleblower voluntarily submitted to the Commission and led to a successful resolution of the Commission judicial or administrative action.
(b) The Commission will not make an award to a claimant for a final judgment in a Related Action if the claimant has already been granted an award by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for that same action pursuant to its whistleblower award program under section 21F of the Securities Exchange Act (15 U.S.C. § 78a et seq.). If the SEC has previously denied an award to the claimant for a judgment in a Related Action, the whistleblower will be precluded from relitigating any issues before the Commission that the SEC resolved against the claimant as part of the award denial.