An unnamed person living outside the United States will get more than $US30 million ($A32 million) for tipping off US regulators of a fraud case, a government watchdog agency says.
The Securities and Exchange Commission would not divulge any information about the individual, or the case the expected payout involves, but said it would be the largest award the agency has made yet to any whistleblower in the two-year-old program.
The case would be significant in size - the SEC awards 10-30 per cent of the money it collects as fines and restitution in a case, drawing on a special fund built up from past fines.
But it could be any one of a number of cases.
The agency has levied a number of fines of more than $US90 million in recent years in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
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"This whistleblower came to us with information about an ongoing fraud that would have been very difficult to detect," said Andrew Ceresney, director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement.
"This record-breaking award sends a strong message about our commitment to whistleblowers and the value they bring to law enforcement."
The agency said it was not disclosing any information on the specific case to avoid doing anything that could reveal the whistleblower's identity.
Thirteen people have been awarded so far under the program.
