‘In confidence, with confidence’ is the title of the UK financial services regulator’s campaign encouraging whistle-blowers to report potential wrong-doing, confidentially.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published materials for firms to share with employees; and produced a digital toolkit for industry bodies, consumer groups and whistle-blowing groups to encourage individuals to have confidence to step forward; typically about mis-selling, unfair treatment of customers; money laundering; fitness and propriety; systems and controls; and unauthorised business.
Whistleblowers that report to the FCA will have a dedicated case manager. They can meet with the FCA to discuss their concerns and can receive optional regular updates throughout the investigation. Every report the FCA receives is reviewed and the FCA will protect individual whistleblowers’ identities, the regulator stresses.
Mark Steward, Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA said: ‘We want all whistleblowers to feel welcomed by us and to feel safe because of us. We listen to all whistleblowers and, if they shine a light on serious misconduct, we want to make sure we act responsibly. When whistleblowing works well it helps consumers, markets and firms and keeps everyone safe and that is our aim.’
The Stratford, London-based (pictured) FCA says it’s been increasing the headcount on its whistleblowing team. This specialist team are trained to debrief and interact with whistleblowers, as well as liaising with various departments across the Authority. As for internal process, the Authority has introduced a mandatory e-learning module for staff, to help identify potential whistleblowers and make sure any intelligence received by the FCA is dealt with correctly and that identities are protected.
The FCA’s website has been updated to provide more information for potential whistleblowers and the Whistleblowing team are developing a confidential web form, adding to the ways in which whistleblowers can make disclosures to them.
Individuals can choose to remain anonymous, and many do, the Authority says. If they do share any information about themselves, then the FCA will keep this safe. This includes not confirming the existence of a whistleblower when making enquiries, unless legally obliged to do so.
The FCA reminds banks that they are required to have effective arrangements in place for employees to raise concerns, and to guarantee these concerns are handled appropriately and confidentially.
The FCA introduced a requirement for firms to appoint a whistleblowers’ champion to make sure there is senior management oversight over the integrity, independence and effectiveness of the firm’s arrangements. These include those arrangements designed to protect whistleblowers from victimisation.
Background
The charity Protect that offers free, confidential whistleblowing advice says that the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a huge increased demand for its services. Furlough fraud is the single biggest issue that Protect has dealt with, it says. Its October report into Covid-19 and whistleblowing found that 62pc of cases to its Advice Line concerned furlough fraud, during the first six months of the pandemic. Too many whistleblowers feel ignored and isolated once they raise their concerns, the charity says.
The report concluded that one in five of whistleblowers who sought advice from the Advice Line said they had been dismissed after raising concerns during Covid-19. The report complained of ‘systemic failings’ in how whistleblowers are treated: “What is particularly unnerving is that employers are prepared to ignore UK whistleblowers raising pandemic-related issues – an issue we should all be extremely worried about.”
As featured in the April print edition of Professional Security magazine, the Budget earlier this month announced a ‘taskforce’ to cover fraud against the various pandemic relief schemes.
