U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs RBS ex-banker's whistleblower award bid

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear former Royal Bank of Scotland managing director Victor Hong's bid to collect a U.S. government whistleblower award of at least $490 million for reporting alleged misconduct related to the institution's sales of mortgage-backed securities.

The justices turned away Hong's appeal of a lower court's ruling that even though his tips helped federal agencies win large settlements against the bank he was not eligible for a cut under the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission whistleblower program because the SEC did not take enforcement action itself.