The Securities and Exchange Commission said on Tuesday that it has given the first whistleblower award under a new system.

The whistleblower's identity as well as the case has not been disclosed but the agency only said that the person helped stop a multi-million dollar fraud. The person will receive an award of $50,000, which is about 30 per cent of the penalties collected by the agency in the case.

The person might receive additional payouts as the case proceeds because 30 per cent in the highest percentage allowed by the law. The 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law allows the agency to award between 10% and 30% of the money collected in a case to the whistleblowers if the information provided by them led to enforcement action. Since the programme started in August 2011, the agency said that it has been receiving about 8 tips each day.

Sean McKessy, chief of the SEC's whistleblower office said in a statement, "The fact that we made the first payment after just one year of operation shows that we are open for business and ready to pay people who bring us good, timely information."