U.S. Regulator Gets 18 Whistleblower Tip-Offs From India

Washington:   U.S. regulator SEC got 18 whistleblower tip-offs from India during the one year period, for its probes into various market related irregularities, while the UK topped the charts with 66 such tip-offs, says a report.

Overall, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, received more than 400 whistleblower tip-offs from various countries during the financial year 2013 (October-September).

The UK is followed by Canada at the second place with 62 tip-offs on instances of possible wrongdoings, China (52), Russia (20), India and Ireland (18 each) and Australia (15).

The annual report is prepared by the staff of SEC as part of the US government whistleblower programme. The programme allows individuals to provide information on possible violations of securities regulation, without revealing their identity.

The regulator received 557 tip-offs related to corporate disclosures and financial reports, 553 on fraud, 525 information on manipulation and 196 concerning to insider trading, it said.

“Since the beginning of the whistleblower programme, the Commission has received whistleblower tip-offs from individuals in 68 countries outside the U.S. In fiscal year 2013 alone, the Commission received submissions from individuals in 55 foreign countries,” the report said.

Among other countries, SEC got 8 tip-offs each from Switzerland and Italy, seven from France, four from Singapore and one from Malaysia.

Besides, the number of tip-offs and complaints received by the U.S. regulator increased to 3,238 in the fiscal year 2013 from the preceding fiscal.

Under the programme, in case a tip-off results in monetary sanctions of over $1 million, individuals concerned can get 10-30 per cent of the sanctions collected.

The regulator paid over $14 million in awards during the year, the report added.