The UK’s approach to economic crime is undergoing a profound strategic shift.
The independent review of disclosure and fraud offences, chaired by Jonathan Fisher KC (the Fisher Review) and published in July 2026, paints a stark picture: fraud constitutes 44 per cent of surveyed crime in England and Wales, yet only 1 per cent of reported cases result in a criminal justice outcome.
Systemic delays plague the system; the average Serious Fraud Office investigation takes 4.3 years to reach a charge, with defendants waiting another 2.5 years for trial.
To accelerate enforcement, the Fisher Review’s 47 recommendations include a landmark proposal: empowering the SFO to financially reward whistleblowers.
This proposal builds on momentum generated by former SFO director Nick Ephgrave, who highlighted in his inaugural speech in February 2024 that he was in favour of paying whistleblowers, noting that 86 per cent of the $2.2bn recovered by the US Department of Justice in civil settlements was driven by whistleblowers, and warned of an “intelligence drain” where UK insiders report to US authorities to secure multi-million-dollar payouts.
That said, the SFO still remains a hub for such intelligence, handling 167 qualifying whistleblowing disclosures in 2024-25 and acting on 153.
While paying for information has historically been viewed as ‘un-British’, public attitudes have shifted. Ipsos polling commissioned for the Fisher Review revealed that 70 per cent of the British public support...
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