§ 165.12 - Payment of awards from the Fund, financing of customer education initiatives, and deposits and credits to the Fund.

§ 165.12 Payment of awards from the Fund, financing of customer education initiatives, and deposits and credits to the Fund.

(a) The Commission shall pay awards to whistleblowers from the Fund.

(b) The Commission shall deposit into or credit to the Fund:

(1) Any monetary sanctions collected by the Commission in any covered judicial or administrative action that is not otherwise distributed, or ordered to be distributed, to victims of a violation of the Commodity Exchange Act underlying such action, unless the balance of the Fund at the time the monetary sanctions are collected exceeds $100,000,000. In the event the Fund's value exceeds $100,000,000, any monetary sanctions collected by the Commission in a covered judicial or administrative action that is not otherwise distributed, or ordered to be distributed, to victims of violations of the Commodity Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder underlying such action, shall be deposited into the general fund of the U.S. Treasury.

(2) In the event that the amounts deposited into or credited to the Fund under paragraph (b)(1) of this section are not sufficient to satisfy an award made pursuant to § 165.7, then, pursuant to Section 23(g)(3)(B) of the Commodity Exchange Act;

(i) An amount equal to the unsatisfied portion of the award;

(ii) Shall be deposited into or credited to the Fund;

(iii) From any monetary sanction collected by the Commission in any judicial or administrative action brought by the Commission under the Commodity Exchange Act, regardless of whether it qualifies as a “covered judicial or administrative action”; provided, however, that such judicial or administrative action is based on information provided by a whistleblower.

(c) Office of Customer Education and OutreachPublic Affairs. The Commission shall undertake and maintain customer education initiatives through its Office of Customer Education and Outreach. The initiatives shall be designed to help customers protect themselves against fraud or other violations of the Commodity Exchange Act, or the rules or regulations thereunder. The Commission shall fund the initiatives and may utilize funds deposited into the Fund during any fiscal year in which the beginning (October 1) balance of the Fund is greater than $10,000,000. The Commission shall budget, on an annual basis, the amount used to finance customer education initiatives, taking into consideration the balance of the Fund.

[76 FR 53200, Aug. 25, 2011, as amended at 82 FR 24500, May 30, 2017; 89 FR 71820, Sept. 4, 2024]