The Securities and Exchange Commission is awarding more than $900,000 to an informant whose tip helped it to punish several wrongdoers for breaking its rules.

Referring to it as a tip of high quality "that we can leverage to enforce the law," the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower has said that, as of now, it has distributed more than $136 million to 37 telltales who provided it with original and useful information that led to successful 'enforcement' activity.

By law, the SEC protects the confidentiality of informants and is therefore not disclosing the person's identity. Awards can range from 10% to 30% of the money collected if the monetary sanctions exceed $1 million. All payments are made out of an investor protection fund established by Congress that is financed entirely through monetary sanctions paid to the SEC by people who break the securities laws.