OSC gives whistleblower $300,000 reward

A knowledgeable tipster is getting a $300,000 payout from the Ontario Securities Commission’s (OSC) whistleblower program for alerting the regulator to suspected misconduct.

The regulator announced its latest whistleblower award, paid to a tipster “who provided significant and detailed information” that helped expose regulatory violations.

“The activity of the firm was not consistent with their regulatory obligations and would have been hard to detect by the OSC without the whistleblower coming forward,” the regulator said in a release announcing the award.

The OSC noted that the whistleblower, whose identity was not revealed, had “seniority, knowledge and experience” and provided the regulator with intelligence that facilitated enforcement action.

“Through this individual’s submission, the OSC was alerted to the issue, and was able to ensure the firm took measures to rectify it,” it said.

“Actionable information from whistleblowers is critical in the fight against misconduct and in protecting the integrity of our capital markets” said Leslie Byberg, interim executive vice president, enforcement, at the OSC.

“Some misconduct can be difficult to detect without intelligence from those within a firm. This individual’s actions directly identified a complex issue that may have otherwise gone unnoticed,” she added.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.