SEC sets aside $450M for whistle-blowers

[October 30, 2010]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission says it has set aside about $450 million for payments to outside whistle-blowers whose information results in successful cases and penalties collected from companies or individuals.

The SEC set up the program in accordance with the financial overhaul law enacted in July. It follows intense public criticism of the agency for the breakdown that allowed Bernard Madoff's multibillion-dollar fraud to go undetected for 16 years, despite numerous red flags raised by whistle-blowers.

A report issued Friday by the SEC shows it has put $451.9 million into a new fund to pay whistle-blowers, which must have a minimum $300 million.

[Associated Press]

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