Whistleblower Program

The CFTC’s whistleblower program – which was created by the Dodd-Frank Act – allows for the payment of monetary awards to eligible whistleblowers, and provides anti-retaliation protections for whistleblowers who share information with or assist the CFTC.

MONETARY AWARDS

• The CFTC will pay awards to eligible whistleblowers who voluntarily provide us with original information about violations of the Commodity Exchange Act that lead us to bring an enforcement action that results in more than $1 million in monetary sanctions.
• The CFTC can also pay whistleblower awards based on monetary sanctions collected by other authorities in actions that are related to a CFTC enforcement action, and are based on information provided by a CFTC whistleblower.
• The total amount of a whistleblower award will be between 10 and 30 percent of the monetary sanctions collected in either the CFTC action or the related action.
• Only information that was first submitted to the CFTC after July 21, 2010 – the date of enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act – is eligible for a whistleblower award. The information, however, can be about conduct that happened at any time.
• There are detailed procedures and requirements for obtaining a whistleblower award. You should read our Whistleblower Rules carefully and contact the Whistleblower Office with any questions.

HOW TO submit A WHISTLEBLOWER Tip or complaint

• To become a whistleblower, you must complete and submit a Form TCR.
• File a Form TCR electronically.
• You can also mail or fax a printed Form TCR (see "Resources" below) to:

Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Whistleblower Office
1155 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20581
Fax:  (202) 418-5975

• You may file anonymously.
• Do not submit privileged materials.  If you are in doubt as to whether materials in your possession are privileged, please email the Whistleblower Office at whistleblower@cftc.gov for guidance.

HOW TO Claim an Award

• Mail or fax a completed Form WB-APP to the address above.
• There are strict time limits for claiming an award. For eligible CFTC actions, your Form WB-APP must be received within 90 calendar days following the date that we post a “Notice of Covered Action” on our Whistleblower Notices page on this website. For related actions, your Form WB-APP must be received within 90 days following the date of a final judgment in the related action.
• You can receive alerts about Notices of Covered Actions by subscribing to our Email Subscription Service or RSS Feeds.

ANTi-RETALIATION PROTECTIONS

• The Dodd-Frank Act prohibits retaliation by employers against individuals who provide us with information about possible violations of the Commodity Exchange Act, or who assist us in any investigation or proceeding based on such information.
• Learn more about the anti-retaliation provisions by reading Appendix A of our Whistleblower Rules.
• You must properly file a Form TCR in order to become a whistleblower for purposes of the anti-retaliation provisions.

RESOURCES

• Section 23 of the Commodity Exchange Act [7 U.S.C. § 26] (our whistleblower provisions)
• Whistleblower Rules [17 C.F.R. § 165] (the rules and requirements of our whistleblower program)
• Printed Form TCR
• Form WB-APP

QUESTIONS

• Please use the contact information below to ask any questions you have about our whistleblower program. We prefer to receive questions by email.

Email: whistleblower@cftc.gov

Fax: (202) 418-5975

• Also, please read our Frequently Asked Questions.

Your Privacy

The Commission is soliciting information for the whistleblower program to enable the Commission to determine an individual's eligibility for payment of an award and to investigate and prosecute violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and Commission regulations.  The information provided may be disclosed to Federal, state, local, or foreign agencies or other authorities responsible for investigating, prosecuting, enforcing, or implementing laws, rules, or regulations implicated by the information consistent with the confidentiality requirements set forth therein, including pursuant to Section 23 of the Commodity Exchange Act and Part 165 of the Commission’s regulations thereunder.  The information will be maintained and additional disclosures may be made in accordance System of Records Notices CFTC-49, “Whistleblower Records” (exempted), CFTC-10, "Investigatory Records" (exempted) and CFTC-16, "Enforcement Case Files".  Furnishing the information is voluntary.  However, if an individual is providing information for the whistleblower program, not providing required information may result in the individual not being eligible for award consideration.