A whistleblower eligible for an award can be any individual who sends the Commission a Form TCR containing information about a potential violation of the Commodity Exchange Act. Examples range from a corporate officer or insider, to a trader or market observer, to an investor or fraud victim. A company or another entity is not eligible to be a whistleblower. Rules 165.2(p), 165.3

However, not every person who files a TCR will be eligible for an award. To be eligible, a whistleblower must "voluntarily" provide the Commission with "original information" about a violation. Those terms are explained in these FAQs. Also, certain persons – including certain government and self-regulatory personnel, and persons convicted of a crime related to the conduct at issue in the whistleblower matter – are ineligible for an award. Rules 165.5(a), 165.6