Information on Covid whistleblowing reports for 2020/21 - August 2021

• As regards the 55 reports of Covid-specific whistleblower allegations referred to in the FCA's annual report for 2020/21 I am requesting a breakdown on the number of these reports by firm type.
• Further, where possible and insofar and it does not prevent this request from being fulfilled, I am requesting the names of the businesses that have faced Covid-specific whistleblower allegations.
• Insofar as it does not jeapordise this request, I am requesting that this information is laid out by month the whistleblower report was received.
• If brief supplemental details / summaries are available regarding the nature of each complaint (and insofar as it does not jeapordise other elements of this request) – for example, redundancies, staff mistreatment, continuity planning issues – then I would request these for each instance.  If it is not possible to link this information by firm type or entity then I would request the summary complaint details are presented separately so as not to be linked to sectors/firms. 
• And I am requesting a breakdown of the results of these reports – in how many examples was action taken and was this significant action, is action pending, was no action taken etc.

Thank you for your request of 16 July 2021, for information relating to Covid-specific whistleblowing reports for 2020/21.

We have processed your request in line with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and will address each point in turn.

• As regards the 55 reports of Covid-specific whistleblower allegations referred to in the FCA’s annual report for 2020/21 I am requesting a breakdown on the number of these reports by firm type.

• Further, where possible and insofar and it does not prevent this request from being fulfilled, I am requesting the names of the businesses that have faced Covid-specific whistleblower allegations.

To the extent that the information you have requested is, or contains, confidential information received in the course of carrying out our public function under section 348 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), we are prohibited from disclosing it to you under section 44 (prohibitions on disclosure) of FOIA.  For further details on why this exemption applies, please see Annex A below.

• Insofar as it does not jeopardise this request, I am requesting that this information is laid out by month the whistleblower report was received.

See table above.

• If brief supplemental details / summaries are available regarding the nature of each complaint (and insofar as it does not jeopardise other elements of this request) – for example, redundancies, staff mistreatment, continuity planning issues – then I would request these for each instance.  If it is not possible to link this information by firm type or entity then I would request the summary complaint details are presented separately so as not to be linked to sectors/firms. 

The allegations reported include employees informing about the of mis-treatment of staff; expecting staff to work whilst furloughed; poor business continuity planning; using the pandemic as a means to make staff redundant.  Allegations also refer to disclosures indicating that firms or their employees were not treating customers fairly because of the pandemic.

• And I am requesting a breakdown of the results of these reports – in how many examples was action taken and was this significant action, is action pending, was no action taken etc.”

See table above.

Annex A

General right of access to information held by public authorities

Under section 1(1)(a) of the Act, any person making a request for information to a public authority is entitled to be informed in writing by the public authority whether it holds information of the description specified in the request.  If the public authority holds information of the type specified in the request, the person requesting the information is entitled under section 1(1)(b) to have the information communicated to them.  The rights in section 1(1)(a) and (b) are subject to a number of exclusions and exemptions.

Section 44 (Prohibitions on Disclosure)

Section 44(1)(a) of the Act provides that information is exempt from disclosure if this is prohibited by or under any enactment.

Section 348 of FSMA prohibits the disclosure of “confidential information” otherwise than in limited permitted circumstances, none of which apply in the present case.

“Confidential information” is defined in section 348 of FSMA as information which relates to the business or other affairs of any person, which was received by the FCA (or its predecessor the FSA) for the purposes of, or in the discharge of, its functions under FSMA, which is not in the public domain (unless disclosed in breach of section 348), and which is not in the form of a summary or collection of information so framed that it is not possible to ascertain from it information relating to any particular person.

To the extent that the information you requested is, or contains, confidential information under this provision, we are unable to provide it to you.  If we disclosed the information without the providers’ consent and the consent of the person/s the information is about, we would breach section 348 of FSMA which is a criminal offence.

This is an ‘absolute’ exemption, which means it is not necessary to balance the public interest for and against disclosing the information.