The United Kingdom’s Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority this week recommended that Parliament not create a financial reward program for whistleblowers, similar to one administered by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
In early July, a government response issued by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills made the same recommendation. “The government does not believe financial incentives should be introduced as an integral part of the whistleblowing framework,” it wrote. Concerns included: unintended consequences, such as an increase in the number of disclosures made for personal gain; making people far more suspicious of whistleblowers; the potential for issues to remain unreported for longer; and that some employees might be more interested in policing their employer rather than working for them.
