This is an audio transcript of the Behind the Money podcast episode: ‘Whistleblowing in the UK, Ep. 2 — Is it ‘British’ to pay whistleblowers?’
Michela Tindera
My colleague, Martin Arnold, who’s the FT’s financial regulation editor, has been reporting on the world of UK finance for many years. And over time, he’s seen an ongoing hesitation on the part of regulators to pay corporate whistleblowers.
Martin Arnold
It’s just not cricket, I think, is what I would say. In the UK . . .
Michela Tindera
What does . . . I am unfamiliar with that phrase.
Martin Arnold
It’s just not cricket. What’s that mean? It’s just not very gentlemanly to be doing it for money. You should be doing it because it’s the right thing to do anyway. There’s something slightly tainted, slightly commercial about it.
Michela Tindera
As recently as 2018, the head of the UK Serious Fraud Office, which prosecutes financial crimes, said that paying whistleblowers just isn’t British, but the tide might be turning. The SFO now has a new director and he’s become a major advocate for whistleblower rewards.
Nick Ephgrave
In the US, you’re not embarrassed or ashamed and nor should you be of saying, if you give us information that helps us convict a criminal, we are gonna pay you for that.
Michela Tindera
That’s Nick Ephgrave, the new head of the SFO.
Nick Ephgrave
I think that’s an entirely good thing to do. We do it in the UK with criminal informants. Why are we so reticent to do the same thing for whistleblowers?...
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