In 2021, Congress passed an emergency measure to save the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Whistleblower Program from financial collapse. This measure is set to expire at the end of September, threatening to shut down a program which plays a critical role in policing corruption and fraud.

The CFTC Whistleblower Program’s financial crisis is due to its own success. In setting up the program, Congress placed a cap on the amount of money which could be in the fund used to finance the program, including both paying the expenses of the Whistleblower Office and paying out whistleblower awards. Only $100 million is allowed to be placed in the fund, which is entirely financed by sanctions collected thanks to the whistleblower program.

Thus, while the CFTC Whistleblower Program has directly led to over $3.2 billion in sanctions, only a fraction of that money has been placed in the CFTC Whistleblower Program’s fund. Under the CFTC Whistleblower Program, qualified whistleblowers are eligible for monetary awards of 10-30% of the sanctions collected in the enforcement action aided by their disclosure. The large sanctions being collected due to the whistleblower program therefore result in large payouts to whistleblowers.

It is these large sanctions and corresponding large awards which are threatening the program. Given the cap on the program’s fund, a large award could completely drain the balance of the fund.

In 2021, CFTC officials and whistleblower advocates raised...

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