Regulation

Whistleblower who revealed currency abuses at BNY Mellon receives $50m

SEC makes its largest payment ever for an individual providing a lead on illegal market practices

A former trader at Bank of New York Mellon who alerted authorities to the bank’s pattern of overcharging big clients on currency trades was awarded a $50m whistleblower payment on 4 June.

The award, the largest of its type made by the Securities and Exchange Commission, comes more than a decade after the trader, Grant Wilson, began assisting authorities with the currency trading investigations, according to a person familiar with the matter. The bank paid $714m in fines and other compensation in 2015 to resolve allegations it defrauded pension funds and other clients related to currency transactions.

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