Whistleblowing complaints up 24% in UK

The number os whistleblowing complaints made to the UK's financial watchdog has seen a 24% spike, with a total of 1,755 complaints received last year, according to official numbers.
Of the total complaints received by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) by whistleblowers, a considerable amount (246) was related to concerns about how companies treat their clients. In 2017 the financial regulator received 1,240 whistleblowing complaints.
Complaints about market manipulation and data security both doubled over the year, according to figures received from the FCA through a freedom of information request by BDO.
The IRS has also recently provided a $26m award letter to our client who blew the whistle on secret bank accounts of billionaires - bringing back over $100m dollars to the Treasury"
Despite the increase in complaints, the FCA only acted on 121 disclosures that it thought were within its remit in the 2017-2018 financial year, according to its annual report. One case where it is investigating a string of whistleblowing complaints is that of Royal Bank of Canada's working culture in its London office, after dozens of former employees complained to the regulator over their treatment.
This contrasts signifcanlty from what is happening in the USA. The IRS recently released the FY 2018 report on the Whistleblower Program - announcing that the IRS had collected a record-breaking $1.441bn in taxes, penalties and interest collected thanks to information provided by whistleblowers - up from $190m the previous year. The IRS also announced that whistleblowers had received $312m in awards - an increase from $33 million in awards provided the previous year.
In Canada, the Ontario Securities Commission has made its first three payments to whistleblowers under a new program that allows anonymous sources to tip off the regulator about misdeeds at companies.
The regulator says the total value of the cash payments add up to just under C$7.5m, which went to three different people who tipped off the OSC about three different matters.