The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said on Tuesday that it has received 279 new whistleblowing reports in the fourth quarter of 2021, which is from October through December.
“We assess every whistleblowing case we receive that falls within our remit, to inform our work and help us identify actual or potential harm. This could be harm[ful] to consumers, to markets, to the UK economy or to wider society,” the British regulator stated.
Within the total number of whistleblowing reports the FCA received, there were 525 allegations of financial wrongdoings. All of these reports fall under five broad categories: fair treatment of customers, FSMA, fitness and propriety, culture and compliance .
Most of the received allegations were of fitness and propriety, with a total number of 97, followed by fair treatment of customers and FSMA. In addition, the whistleblowers reported 27 allegations of fraud and raised 17 data security concerns that involve poor data handling or misuse within a firm or by an individual.
Identity Is Concealed
The whistleblowers shared reports using wide communication channels that include telephone, email, letter and online reporting forms. However, the regulator did not provide any specific information on the cases.
“We accept both anonymous and identified whistleblowing reports,” said the FCA.
“A whistleblower can choose to remain anonymous when making a report through any of our reporting options. Whistleblowers need to feel comfortable when making a report, so they can provide relevant and sufficient detail to help our review of their concerns.”
Reputed financial regulators around the world are encouraging insiders to come out if any financial services company is indulged in fraudulent activities. These types of fraud are hard to point out without insider information.
Furthermore, the authorities are offering hefty rewards to the whistleblowers. The United States' Securities and Exchange Commission has opened its pockets for tip-offs from whistleblowers, handing out hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years. Last October, it rewarded $200 million to a single whistleblower which turned out to be the highest reward received by a whistleblower in the US.
