ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Commodity Futures Trading Commission Whistleblower Tips Up 126%
2020 CFTC Awards Double 2019 Number
Whistleblower Awards Now Total Over $120 Million
According to a report released on November 2, 2020, the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) saw a 126% increase in whistleblower tips during 2020. For the fiscal year, the Commission issued 11 final orders granting 16 whistleblowers awards in 2020, more than doubling the total awards given during 2019. The CFTC whistleblower reward program was established by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank), Pub. L. 111-203, to protect the U.S. economy and the American public. See 7 U.S.C. § 26 et seq. The program pays monetary awards to qui tam whistleblowers who provide information that leads the CFTC to bring a successful enforcement action exceeding a million dollars for violations of the Commodity Exchange Act. 7 U.S.C. § 26(b); 17 C.F.R. §§ 165.1 et seq. If you have credible information of any kind of options or commodities trading fraud, call the CFTC whistleblower attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. today at (415)441-8669 or toll free at (888)503-8267.
CFTC Whistleblower Awards Climb In 2020
In its annual report to Congress for FY 2020, the CFTC detailed the whistleblower program’s success over the past twelve months, noting it granted 16 applications for whistleblower awards, totaling approximately $20 million. There were eleven Final Orders granting those awards, including three orders involving multiple whistleblower awardees. Of these awards, two were given to whistleblowers located outside the United States. One award was based in part on related actions brought by another regulator. Since the inception of the Whistleblower Program, the CFTC has issued 25 orders granting a total of more than $120 million in awards. The Commission actions associated with those awards have resulted in sanctions orders totaling nearly $1 billion.
Cases Start With A Tip To The CFTC
A CFTC case starts with submitting a TCR (“Tip, Complaint, or Referral”) Form with the Commission. In 2020, the CFTC received 1,030 TCRs about commodities, options, and virtual currency trading fraud and other related frauds. This record-high number represented an increase of 126% over the 455 TCRs received in 2019. According to the CFTC, the 2020 TCRs reported “activities such as failures to supervise; record keeping or registration violations; swap dealer business conduct; wash trading; solicitation, misappropriation, and other types of fraud; use of deceptive or manipulative devices in trading; as well as spoofing and other forms of disruptive trading or market manipulation.” The Commission recommends that whistleblowers seek the counsel of experienced CFTC/SEC whistleblower attorneys to assist them in the process of submitting a TCR form. This will ensure they take the proper steps to remain anonymous and qualify for a whistleblower award
Contact Us
If you have credible, original information of any kind of trading or commodities or futures sales fraud, call us today. Any kind of options, swaps, futures, commodities or virtual currency trading fraud, unregistered solicitations, or false advertising may constitute the basis of a whistleblower report to the CFTC. Ingrid M. Evans and the other CFTC whistleblower attorneys at the Evans Law Firm know how to present your information on a TCR with the best chance for an ultimate reward if the CFTC elects to take action and the enforcement action is successful. Call Ingrid and the firm’s other CFTC whistleblower attorneys today at (415) 441-8669, or toll free at (888)503-8267 or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. Ingrid and out other whistleblower attorneys also represents whistleblowers in cases involving the False Claims Act, offshore tax avoidance schemes or other tax fraud before the Internal Revenue Service, and bank fraud under the Financial Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act (FIRREA/FIAFEA),
