On October 23, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) awarded $150,000 to an international whistleblower who disclosed information about significant issues at an early-stage firm, leading to a successful enforcement action by the OSC.
According to the OSC, the whistleblower was not an employee of the firm, but “had access to non-public and hard-to-detect information that was brought to the attention of the OSC.”
“This case highlights the global reach of the OSC Whistleblower Program, which attracts tips from beyond our borders and pays awards to individuals from anywhere in the world,” said André Moniz, Manager of the OSC Office of the Whistleblower. “The Program is a valuable tool in the OSC’s enforcement toolkit, as whistleblowers are a valuable source of information. Whistleblowers can provide an ‘early warning’ when it comes to alerting the OSC about suspected misconduct.”
The OSC established its Whistleblower Program in 2016. Similar to the highly successful whistleblower program of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the OSC Whistleblower Program offers monetary awards to individuals who voluntarily provide the agency with original information that leads to a successful enforcement action. It was the first securities whistleblower award program in Canada.
Since it was established, the OSC Whistleblower Program has awarded more than $10 million to whistleblowers. In March 2023, the OSC reported that whistleblower disclosures have resulted in approximately $48 million in monetary sanctions. At that time, Jeff Kehoe, Director of Enforcement at the OSC, referred to the program as “a resounding success.”
Like the SEC Whistleblower Program, the OSC Whistleblower Program offers anonymity and confidentiality protections. Whistleblowers are able to submit disclosures anonymously through a lawyer and the OSC remains committed to not disclosing any potentially identifying information about whistleblowers.
However, in contrast to the SEC, qualified OSC whistleblowers are entitled to awards of 5-15% of the sanctions collected in connection with their discourse (as opposed to 15-30% at the SEC) and awards are capped at $5 million (the SEC has no cap).
Given the transnational reach of the SEC Whistleblower Program, certain whistleblowers may still prefer to report securities violations to the SEC in addition to the OSC. According to the SEC, between 2011 and 2021, nearly 700 whistleblowers from within Canada reported through the SEC Whistleblower Program.