Today, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a whistleblower award of $900,000 issued to an individual who was key in an investigation into securities frauds occurring overseas.

According to the SEC award order, the whistleblower alerted the Commission to misconduct that would have been difficult to identify otherwise.

Since issuing its first award in 2012, the SEC Whistleblower Program has now issued over $721 million to 114 individuals. Established under the Dodd Frank Act, the Program protects the identity of whistleblowers who file award claims with the SEC.

“Today’s award underscores the significance of the SEC whistleblower program’s global reach,” said Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower. “The agency has received whistleblower tips from individuals in 130 countries. Overseas whistleblowers are in a unique position to help identify wrongdoing occurring abroad that may otherwise be hard to detect.”

Ben Kostyack also contributed to this article.