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On Tuesday (October 14), 91pornwhistleblower partner Gordon Schnell was featured in Law.com on the significant drop in awards this year under the SEC Whistleblower Program.听 In an article titled, SEC Whistleblower Awards Tumble to 6-Year Low, Signaling Closer Scrutiny and Stricter Standards¹ Schnell provided his views on what is behind the relatively low whistleblower payouts this year and what it might mean for the agency鈥檚 whistleblower program going forward.

According to Law.com鈥檚 analysis of SEC records, here are the publication鈥檚 key takeaways for SEC whistleblower awards for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025:

• • The SEC paid whistleblowers roughly $60 million, the lowest level in six years, and far below the $600 million the SEC paid whistleblowers in 2023 and the $255 million it paid whistleblowers in 2024.

• • The largest award was for $12 million, significantly smaller than the sizeable awards the SEC has made in prior years, including the $279 million award it made in 2023 and the $98 million award it made last year. Since the program’s 2011 launch, the SEC has awarded $2.2 billion to 444 whistleblowers.

• • The SEC granted only around 19% of award applications, again significantly lower than prior years, including last year where it granted roughly 27% of award applications. Between late April and mid-June, the SEC issued 46 consecutive award denials.

• • One of the SEC鈥檚 award denials (on May 5) was to two whistleblowers who reported to the press before reporting to the SEC. The SEC denied any award because it was the news articles the whistleblowers sourced, not their direct reporting to the agency, that prompted the agency to open an investigation.听 The SEC鈥檚 denial was a strict reversal of the agency鈥檚 more flexible and generous approach in the past to whistleblowers who indirectly reported on violations that led to an SEC enforcement action.

Questioned on these results, Schnell expressed concern that the SEC may be prioritizing low-value settlements, and noted the 鈥渋mportant incentive鈥� large awards provide to whistleblowers 鈥渨ho often put their careers on the line to report fraud and misconduct.鈥澛� Schnell further surmised that the low-volume awards this year may reflect “a more selective approach going on where they’re being a little more stingy.”

Schnell further observed that beyond the low payouts this year, there are other changes in how the SEC seems to be responding to whistleblowers.听 The first he pointed to is his own firm鈥檚 experience before the agency, with 鈥渟everal strong whistleblower submissions pending that the SEC seems to be sitting on without much action.鈥澛� The other change he pointed to is how 鈥渢he SEC has seemed to pull back on promoting the whistleblower program.鈥�

While Schnell attributes some of this to a lack of agency resources — Law.com says the SEC has lost at least 15% of its staff — he hopes there is not something more at play with the SEC鈥檚 commitment to its whistleblower program.

To read more on Schnell鈥檚 views on the current state of the SEC Whistleblower Program and what it means for whistleblowers, you can read his October 8 post titled Stream of SEC Whistleblower Awards Continues with Five New Awards — But Payouts Remain Small and his September 8 post titled SEC Whistleblower Program Alive and Well with Recent Wave of Whistleblower Awards.听 The bottom line for Schnell is that 鈥渨e believe in the program and every indication is that the SEC still believes in the program too.鈥�

If you would like to learn more about the聽SEC Whistleblower Program, Constantine Cannon鈥檚 work representing whistleblowers under the program, our long list of聽whistleblower successes, or聽what it means to be a whistleblower聽more broadly, please do not hesitate to聽contact us.听 We will connect you with an experienced member of the聽91pornwhistleblower team聽for a free and confidential consultation.

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Sources:

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