U.S. securities regulator awards whistleblowers more than $28 million

NEW YORK, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday said it has awarded a whistleblower payout of more than $28 million to joint tipsters who shared "critical information" for one of the agency's enforcement actions. 

  The whistleblowers, who were not identified, provided information that prompted the opening of an SEC investigation and ultimately to a successful action, the agency said. 

  The SEC did not disclose which enforcement action was involved. 

  Created after the 2007-2009 global financial crisis, the SEC's whistleblower program is widely considered a major success, having resulted in orders for more than $6.3 billion in total monetary sanctions as of the 2022 fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. 

  The SEC has paid more than $1.3 billion in over 300 awards to individuals for their information through fiscal 2022, the agency said in November. Its largest-ever payout of $114 million went to a single tipster in October 2020. (Reporting by Chris Prentice; Editing by Paul Simao)