Britain’s markets watchdog is aiming to improve its procedures for finance workers who report on suspected wrongdoing after finding that some whistleblowers didn’t feel listened to enough and perceived the regulator as reluctant.
The Financial Conduct Authority now seeks to give whistleblowers its rationale for taking or not taking action, and will improve its webform, according to a statement Thursday. The watchdog said it will also engage with the Department for Business and Trade to support a review of whistleblower legislation.
“The FCA’s ability to share information about how it has acted on the information provided by whistleblowers is often restricted by legal confidentiality obligations,” said Therese Chambers, the FCA’s executive director of Enforcement and Market Oversight. The regulator’s tweaked approach will provide “as much information as possible within these legislative constraints.”
In the past, whistleblowing has allowed the FCA to tackle issues such as misselling of loans or unauthorized firms taking on customers, it said. The regulator has been criticized for allowing then-Barclays Plc Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley to hold onto his job after investigating his two attempts to identify a whistleblower within the bank.
The Bank of England also published a consultation paper on Thursday setting out changes designed to encourage “speedier investigatory outcomes.” The proposals provide a route for early cooperation in appropriate cases and look to introduce a larger settlement discount in appropriate cases of up to 50%.
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