Provided that you meet all of the program's eligibility criteria, the Commission will pay a total award amount equal to between 10% and 30% of the amount of the monetary sanctions collected in either the CFTC action or a Related Action. In cases involving multiple whistleblowers, the total award amount will still not exceed 30%.

You must complete a Form WB-APP and submit it electronically, mail it to the address below or fax it to the number below:

Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Whistleblower Office
1155 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20581

Fax: (202) 418-5975

No other form of submission will be accepted.

For covered CFTC actions, you must file the form no later than 90 days after the Commission posts a "Notice of Covered Action." For Related Actions related to a Covered Action, you must file the form no later than within 90 days after the later of (1) a judgment in the Related Action and (2) the posting of the Notice of Covered Action. Rule 165.7. Where judgment in a Related Action comes after a timely application for the Covered Action, you will need to file an additional Form WB-APP for the Related Action. Rule 165.7

When the CFTC obtains a final judgment that contains more than $1 million in monetary sanctions, the Commission will post a "Notice of Covered Action" on the Notices of Covered Actions page.

The Commission does not notify individuals directly about Notices of Covered Action, so you should monitor the webpage periodically. You can also sign up for the Whistleblower Program's Email Subscription Service to receive alerts to new Notices of Covered Action. The Commission does not provide or post any notification for Related Actions.

No. The Dodd-Frank Act and our Whistleblower Rules make awards available only in connection with information first submitted to the CFTC after July 21, 2010. Commodity Exchange Act § 23(k) and Rule 165.2(k)(4)

In many cases, yes. Rule 165.6(a) generally outlines those whistleblowers who are ineligible for an award. Only whistleblowers who work for a "Registered Entity," as that term is defined in the CEA, are precluded from becoming whistleblowers by virtue of their employment, pursuant to Rule 165.6(a)(1). That term does not include a Futures Commission Merchant. See 7 U.S.C. § 1a(29) (2012). A whistleblower who works for a Futures Commission Merchant may therefore be eligible for an award, assuming he or she otherwise meets the eligibility criteria set out in the Whistleblower Rules, including the requirement of Rule 165.2(g)(4) that information about a potential violation not have been learned by the whistleblower who is an officer, director, trustee or partner in connection with the entity's processes for identifying, reporting, and addressing possible violations of law.

A Related Action is a successful judicial or administrative action brought by certain other specified entities that is based on the original information provided by a whistleblower that led to the successful enforcement of a CFTC action. Those entities may include the U.S. Department of Justice (for both civil and criminal matters); other federal departments or agencies, like the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; state criminal or appropriate civil agencies; registered entities, registered futures associations, or self-regulatory organizations, like the National Futures Association; and foreign futures authorities. The Related Action must be based on the same original information that the whistleblower voluntarily submitted to the Commission and led to a successful resolution of the Commission judicial or administrative action. Rule 165.11, 165.2(m). In other words, if your information did not lead to a CFTC action, then you will not be eligible for an award on a Related Action.

Yes. You can file for an award claim anonymously but in order to do so, you must be represented by counsel. Your identity will need to be verified in a form and manner that is acceptable to the Commission prior to the payment of any award. Rules 165.3(c), 165.4(b), 165.7(c)

No. The Whistleblower Office cannot provide you with an update on the status of your award claim. All Form WB-APP applications are reviewed in due course and as resources allow. If the Whistleblower Office needs additional information related to your award claim, we will contact you.

Where sanctions collected in a Covered Action or Related Action are less than the full amount ordered, any whistleblower award will amount to the percentage determined by the Commission multiplied by the sanctions collected. Sanctions collected in a Covered Action or Related Action are only used for purposes of calculating awards to whistleblowers. The dollars that actually go to paying those awards come from the CFTC Customer Protection Fund and do not reduce the amounts otherwise ordered to go to harmed investors. A whistleblower remains eligible for a pro rata award payout, even if the Commission is unable to collect the full amount of sanctions ordered. If at a later point in time the Commission collects more money under a Covered Action, then the whistleblower will get the same percentage of the additional amount collected.