Our data shows the number of new whistleblowing reports we received between October and December 2024, and existing reports closed during this period.
The data shows:
- how we received the report
- what the report was about
- what level of action we have taken
We assess every whistleblowing report we receive that falls within our remit, to inform our work and help us identify actual or potential harm. This could be harm to consumers, to markets, to the UK economy or to wider society.
What we can share
We know that greater transparency about the whistleblowing reports we receive is important, and we are constantly trying to improve the information we make public.
However, our reviews will usually involve confidential information restricted by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), including that relating to our supervision and enforcement work. This restriction may limit the information we can share with whistleblowers.
Whistleblowing reports
Our whistleblowing team receives reports by telephone, email, our online reporting form and post.
In this quarter (Q4 2024, October to December), we received 292 new whistleblowing reports.
For the same period in 2023 the team received 248 reports.
In 2024 Q3 (July to September), we received 322 reports.
Chart
Data table
Figure 1 shows that we received the biggest proportion of our new reports in 2024 Q4 via our online reporting form.
Contact details for whistleblowers
Protecting the identities of the whistleblowers who contact us is vital. We understand individuals may be hesitant to share their personal information with us when making a disclosure.
It is helpful when whistleblowers provide us with an ongoing contact option such as a phone number and/or email address. This allows us to:
- re-engage and develop on disclosures
- ask further questions
- keep individuals informed on how we can protect their identity whilst we carry out our work
Our whistleblowing team reviews all reports to make sure we manage information from whistleblowers appropriately. We will redirect any information we get from consumers or firms to other relevant teams to consider, such as our Supervision Hub.
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Data table
Figure 2 shows that in most of the reports we received in 2024 Q4, whistleblowers provided us with their contact details.
Whistleblowing allegations
Every report we receive will contain one or more allegations of wrongdoing. We received 292 reports in this quarter, containing 852 allegations in total.
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Data table
In Figure 3 we list the top allegations made in whistleblowing reports between October and December 2024.
Closed whistleblowing reports
We closed 388 whistleblowing reports between October and December 2024:
- we took significant action to manage harm in 15 reports (4%) – this may include enforcement action, a section 166 skilled person report[2], or restricting a firm’s permissions or an individual’s approval
- we took action to reduce harm in 178 reports (46%) – this may include writing to or visiting a firm, asking a firm for information, or asking a firm to attest to complying with our rules
- 155 reports (40%) informed our work, including harm prevention, but no direct action
- 35 reports (9%) were not seen as harmful, but the information was recorded and will be available for future reference
- 5 reports (1%) classified as other