[ by Melanie Gretchen ] The SEC is sitting on a "cache of cash" - some $452 million - and sooner or later it's going dole it out to some lucky (?) or fortunate individuals.  This much is known:  not one cent will go to children as a reward for being well-behaved.  And while the SEC doesn't know (and likely doesn't care) if the intended recipients have been bad or good this past year, it's a sure bet that there are many people who view these recipients as the "lowest of the lows" and who wish for them nothing short of a painful, violent death. If you guessed that that this is about SEC whistleblowers, you're right and for your correct guess, you have our congratulations and, unfortunately, little else.  Please sit down and continue reading.  Unlike the SEC, we are not sitting on a mountain of cash. Whistleblowing Pays. Yes, the numbers speak for themselves, and they're undoubtedly the best endorsement or advertisement for the SEC's program.  By the way, this week marks the program's first anniversary.  Cards may be sent to SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro - though the mailroom may torch them all, for fear of what be contained in the envelops. The grand total, $452 million - that amount represents 10% to 30% of what the government recovered due to well-placed tips on such illegal activities as:  insider trading, or rigged bonds deals, or cover-ups of cooked books, and bribes.  The list goes seems endless, though it's not. Uncertain Pay Day. The SEC has not yet disclosed when it plans to distribute the awards, but the upcoming incentives have already started generating more tips.  In the 2 weeks following its inception, investigators received about 9 tips a day, which average out to 2,200 a year.

"SEC officials are eager to pay out and publicize the first whistleblower award,” said West, whose firm has gathered a number of tipsters under the new law.  Once the first award is publicized, tips to the SEC from disgruntled employees are almost certain to increase substantially." -- Lawrence A. West, a lawyer with Latham & Watkins.

Sampling of Awards. It's anticipated that some tipsters will receive some very large payouts - all subject to approval by senior officials.  Anticipated awards of 10% - 20% - 30% will be paid on penalties collected by the SEC, including the following:

• SEC's $92.8 million penalty from convicted hedge fund boss Raj Rajaratnam, a record penalty for an individual;
• $59.6 million from Hungarian telecom Magyar Telekon in settlement of bribery charges;
• $22 million from RBC Capital Markets, in settlement of muni bond rigging charges;
• $32.5 million from JP Morgan Securities related to a probe of bond sales irregularities.

The Numbers. For fiscal year ending on 6/30/11, the SEC collected $2.8 billion in penalties and disgorgements from its record 734 enforcement actions.  Toward this sum, California filled the most tips, 34, than any other state, according to the SEC, while New York called in 24 tips.  However, despite the SEC's recent program / motivator, whistleblowers can collect only on cases filed after July 1, 2011. For further details, go to [NY Post, 7/7/12].