A nearly $280 million award issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is leading corporate lawyers to warn clients and could make the work of whistleblower attorneys even more busy in the face of a historically aggressive agency.

The award, announced Friday in connection with a multiagency, unnamed enforcement action, sent shock waves through the securities law world, according to multiple lawyers who spoke with the NLJ. It's more than double any single previous whistleblower award from the SEC, and it's about $50 million more than the total awards issued by the agency in 2022.

"It's remarkable the SEC just made someone a quarter billionaire," said one securities attorney who declined to be quoted by name.