On June 9, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced it awarded over $17 million to an ex-employee of a financial services firm. The SEC’s press release touts the award as the second-highest bounty ever handed to a whistleblower, bested only by a $30 million award from September 2014. This recent award brings the grand total of whistleblower awards to over $85 million since the bounty program began in 2011 and adds to the already substantial sum of $2.5 million awarded since January 2016.