Whistleblowing plays a vital role in shining a light on wrongdoing within the financial sector, and the number of reports we receive is continuing to rise, up to 1,131 last year.
We recognise that blowing the whistle takes courage and those who report to us put their faith in us to protect their confidentiality and fully investigate their concerns.
Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, information provided by whistleblowers enabled us to take direct action against firms 908 times, assisting us to identify wrongdoing and prevent harm. Some examples of this include:
- A group of whistleblowers raised concerns about a firm’s operations, client advice, growth plans, and lack of consumer duty focus. The firm agreed to a section 166 review, which identified areas for improvement. The firm committed to implementing all recommendations made.
- A whistleblower reported pressure-selling and a poor culture driven by the firm’s directors. After reviewing the information, supervisors sent an information request and held a meeting with the firm to investigate the concerns. This led to the firm re-evaluating their sales process in line with consumer duty.
- A whistleblower exposed mis-selling, where customers were offered unsuitable products. Our supervision team interacted with the firm to address the issue and prevent further consumer harm. This led to a review exercise where we asked the firm to review all client sales within a specific time period.
This report covers whistleblowing disclosures made to us under the Prescribed Persons Regulations 2017, covering 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.
1. Our role as a prescribed person
We regulate the conduct of nearly 42,000 UK businesses, prudentially supervise around 41,000 firms, and set standards for around 17,000 firms. Our operational objectives are to:
- protect consumers
- protect the integrity of the UK financial system
- promote effective competition in the interests of consumers
Since 2023, the FCA has had a secondary objective to facilitate the international competitiveness and growth of the UK economy in the medium to long term (subject to alignment with international standards).
As a Prescribed Person, the FCA is legally required to publish this annual report. It accepts disclosures about matters within our remit and may act on them. The Department for Business and Trade’s Whistleblowing webpages list these matters in full.
Whistleblowers are protected under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (as amended by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA)) if their disclosure is in the public interest and relates to serious issues such as fraud, safety risks, or legal violations.
Reports can be made to employers or Prescribed Persons like the FCA. Even if a report doesn’t meet PIDA criteria, the FCA may still review it.
This report includes all cases we reviewed under our whistleblowing process but omits any information that could identify whistleblowers or the subjects of their reports.
2. Whistleblowing reports
Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, we received and assessed 1,131 new whistleblowing reports. Since its introduction in 2021, the webform has become the most used reporting method.
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Data table
We aim to review cases efficiently, though some will take more time that others, particularly cases which lead to, or support, more serious action being taken. We understand the importance of transparency, and we want whistleblowers to see the value of their reports in driving regulatory action.
Last year, we changed our reporting approach to capture all completed reviews, regardless of when the disclosure was made. This ensures we reflect the full impact of whistleblowing reports. We previously only reported on the actions we took as a result of whistleblowing reports received within the reporting period.
Table 1 below shows the action we have taken on all whistleblowing reviews that were concluded during the reporting period.
Overall, 51% of all reviews concluded within this reporting period resulted in direct action.
Table 1: FCA responses to whistleblowing reports
| FCA response | Action on reports received only during the reporting period | All action taken this reporting period (including those in column immediately left) | Examples/details of response |
|---|---|---|---|
| Significant action to manage harm | 1 | 81 (4.6%) | Enforcement action, a s166 Skilled Person’s Report, or restricting a firm’s permissions or an individual’s approval. |
| Action to reduce harm | 148 | 827 (46.9%) | Inquiries undertaken with the firms, including visits, information requests, and attestations of compliance with our rules. |
| Report informed our work | 310 | 712 (40.4%) | Informs our review and has assisted in our harm prevention work – but we did not take direct action on this specific report. |
| Recorded for future reference only | 34 | 111 (6.3%) | These reports did not indicate harm. |
| Other | 28 | 32 (1.8%) | Duplicate reports, reports with very limited detail, reports of activity which is outside of the FCA’s remit. |
(Source: FCA whistleblowing data)
Whistleblowers can remain anonymous when reporting concerns. We want whistleblowers to feel comfortable so they can provide relevant and sufficient information to help our review of their concerns. However, sharing contact details helps us follow up and work with whistleblowers to develop on their reports during our review.
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Data table
3. Allegations in whistleblowing reports
Each whistleblowing report contains one or more allegations of wrongdoing. In the 2024/25 reporting period, the 1,131 reports generated 2,684 separate allegations. These covered a wide range of issues, with the top 10 subjects shown below in Figure 3:
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Data table
4. Our whistleblowing approach
Whistleblowing reports provide crucial insights into the sectors and firms we regulate, helping us protect consumers. We support and encourage whistleblowers in several ways:
- Dedicated whistleblowing team - Engage with whistleblowers, record reports, and ensure they reach the relevant FCA team for assessment.
- Ongoing contact – maintain communication with whistleblowers throughout the review process when requested.
- Merit-based assessment – Evaluate reports based on their content and available information to determine appropriate action.
- Secure processing – The whistleblowing team store reports in the FCA’s secure intelligence system and anonymise them to protect whistleblower identities.
- Assessment and reviews - Ensure appropriate FCA teams review each report.
- Confidentiality for reporters – Accept disclosures from individuals who require confidentiality, as well as ‘workers’ and ‘former workers’ protected by PIDA.
- Feedback to whistleblowers – Provide updates on how their information has been used through a feedback letter upon case closure.
- Guidance for firms – We have published rules and guidance for regulated firms on their own internal whistleblowing arrangements.
- Intelligence gathering – Even if direct action isn’t possible due to insufficient information or lack of regulatory issues, reports still inform our broader understanding of a firm, sector or industry behaviour.
5. Update on our whistleblowing approach
Enhanced Final Feedback
We have improved the feedback we provide to whistleblowers after completing our reviews. This enhanced feedback comes in the form of a letter detailing the steps we took – or did not take – and the reasons why, while complying with legislative restrictions on confidential information. This allows us to increase transparency where possible.
Webpage Update
We have updated our webpage to make it easier for whistleblowers to find the guidance they need to submit a report. We have also clarified our remit to ensure efficient support for those seeking our assistance.
Incentivisation and Reward
In recent months there has been public discussion on offering incentives to whistleblowers. We have worked with other UK regulators, government departments, international partners and industry partners to understand the potential impact and implications that the introduction of incentivisation may have. We recognise the benefits a range of informants can provide in prosecuting criminal offences and we continue to engage actively with other agencies on how this type of intelligence may benefit us in the future.