On Sept. 16, 2026, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission published a final rule revising its whistleblower regulations. The final rule will create a presumption that a whistleblower claimant will receive the statutory maximum of 30% when a report results in collected monetary sanctions of up to approximately $16.66 million (Whistleblower Final Rule). The Whistleblower Final Rule is substantively consistent with the agency’s earlier notice of proposed rulemaking concerning the same topic. The Whistleblower Final Rule will take effect Oct. 16, 2026.
The new presumption is conditioned on the agency’s finding that none of the existing “negative factors,” which currently serve to reduce a whistleblower award amount, are present. To receive a 30% award under the presumption, the whistleblower awardee may not: be culpable for the underlying violations, unreasonably delay the reporting of the underlying violations, or interfere with the entity or registrant’s internal compliance and reporting systems. The Whistleblower Final Rule does not amend the existing “covered action” definition. As a result, any monetary amount collected from the related judicial or administrative action (Sanctioned Amount) must exceed $1 million for a whistleblower to be eligible for an award.
By creating a presumption that a whistleblower awardee is eligible for the maximum Sanctioned Amount (i.e., approximately $16.66 million) authorized by the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), the CFTC aims to “reinforce” whistleblower incentives to participate in the program, including by reducing the amount of time and resources required to assess and resolve claims. CFTC whistleblower claims, which are submitted under CFTC Form TCR, have generally increased in annual volume since the Dodd-Frank Act amended the CEA to create the CFTC program and Whistleblower Office.