CFTC Adopts 30% Presumption for Whistleblower Awards Up to $5 Million

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on September 11, 2026 approved a final rule that incorporates a 30 percent presumption for whistleblower awards of $5 million or less, subject to Commission discretion and its analysis of relevant regulatory factors.

The final rule is modeled on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rule 21F-6(c), a step the CFTC described as further enhancing ongoing harmonization efforts between the two agencies. The Commission said it expects the new provision to improve the efficiency, transparency, and predictability of whistleblower award claims processing. The rule takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

“This final rule will help our Whistleblower Office to promptly and transparently process whistleblower claims, representing an important step in further harmonizing the CFTC and SEC,” said Chairman Michael S. Selig.

“The Whistleblower Program plays an important role in supporting the Commission’s enforcement program,” said Raagnee Beri, director of the Whistleblower Office. “This final rule will protect and enhance the program’s effectiveness and further incentivize whistleblowers to report.”

The Commission published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking containing the same 30 percent presumption and $5 million threshold on June 11, 2026, with a comment period open for 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. At the proposal stage, Selig said it was critical that the Whistleblower Office promptly and transparently process whistleblower claims, and he described the proposal as an important additional step toward harmonization with the SEC.

Mechanics of the 30 Percent Presumption

The rulemaking amends part 165 of the CFTC’s regulations by adding a new rule 165.9(d), according to the rulemaking document issued with the June proposal. Under the provision, where the statutory maximum award of 30 percent of the monetary sanctions collected across all covered and related actions involving a whistleblower’s original information would total $5 million or less, and the Commission does not reasonably anticipate that future collections would push the aggregate maximum above that level, the award is conditionally set at the 30 percent statutory maximum. The document notes that a $5 million award at the maximum rate corresponds to approximately $16.66 million in collected monetary sanctions.

The presumption does not apply where the claimant was culpable or involved in the violation, interfered with internal compliance or reporting systems, or where the claim triggers a separate rule governing awards to whistleblowers who engage in culpable conduct. It is also unavailable where the claimant engaged in unreasonable reporting delay, although the Commission may waive that condition in limited circumstances if the claimant demonstrates that doing so would be consistent with the public interest and the objectives of the whistleblower program. The Commission further retains discretion to set aside the presumption where it determines that applying the maximum percentage would be inappropriate because the whistleblower’s assistance in the covered or related action was limited, or because applying it would be inconsistent with the public interest or the program’s objectives.

Where two or more claimants qualify for an award in a matter within the threshold and at least one claimant’s application satisfies the presumption’s conditions, the aggregate award to all meritorious claimants is set at the statutory maximum. In allocating that amount, the Commission considers whether each claimant’s application satisfies the conditions concerning culpability and reporting delay.

The Commission said in the rulemaking that the existing process applies essentially the same factor-by-factor percentage review to every claim regardless of size, consuming staff time even when a maximum award would be relatively small, and that claimant contests of below-maximum preliminary determinations add further delay. Since 2012, the average time from the deadline for submitting award claims to the Commission’s final order has exceeded two and a half years. The Commission said it expects the presumption to shorten the time needed to resolve and pay smaller meritorious claims and to free staff resources for larger, more complex matters.

Program Record and Cost-Benefit Findings

The whistleblower program operates under section 23 of the Commodity Exchange Act and part 165 of the Commission’s regulations. Eligible whistleblowers who voluntarily provide original information that leads to a successful covered judicial or administrative action resulting in monetary sanctions over $1 million, or to a related action brought by specified entities such as the Department of Justice, receive awards of between 10 and 30 percent of the monetary sanctions collected, paid from the CFTC Customer Protection Fund.

Through the end of calendar year 2025, whistleblower-provided information had contributed to successful enforcement actions resulting in over $3.3 billion in financial remedies, with approximately $160 million earmarked for return to victims, according to the rulemaking record. From the Commission’s first award in 2014 through the end of calendar year 2025, it granted 73 awards in 56 matters totaling over $395 million. In fiscal year 2024, about 42 percent of the Commission’s enforcement actions involved whistleblowers. Approximately 82 percent of historical awards were at or under $5 million, collectively representing about 10 percent of total award dollars paid.

The rulemaking also cites the SEC’s experience under its analogous provision. According to the SEC’s 2021 annual report to Congress referenced in the document, the SEC applied its 30 percent presumption in approximately 89 percent of cases with award amounts not exceeding $5 million after its 2020 rule amendments, compared with 46 percent before the amendments.

Using program data from 2014 through calendar year 2025, the Commission identified 43 matters with awards of $5 million or less and estimated that, had the presumption applied to all of them, Customer Protection Fund payouts would have increased by less than $4 million over the entire period the program has operated. The Commission stated that this amount corresponds to approximately one percent of the more than $395 million in awards paid since 2014 and less than two percent of the fund’s balance of $212,679,118 at the end of fiscal year 2025.

Among the alternatives the Commission considered and set aside were hiring additional Whistleblower Office staff, estimated at $512,497 per year in salary excluding benefits for one data analyst and two attorney-advisors, and applying the presumption at thresholds of $2 million or $15 million instead of $5 million.

The rulemaking also makes technical corrections to part 165 to reflect the Whistleblower Office’s 2025 move from the Division of Enforcement to the Office of the General Counsel, consistent with its adjudicatory functions. The document cites the Memorandum of Understanding between the CFTC and the SEC on harmonization in areas of common regulatory interest dated March 11, 2026, and notes that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has separately proposed a 30 percent presumption at a $15 million threshold.