Whistleblowers could be paid for exposing fraud under SFO reward plan
The Government has launched a consultation on paying whistleblowers who report economic crime, in a scheme the Serious Fraud Office has long called for and which would bring Britain closer to the American model.
Whistleblowers who report economic crime such as fraud and bribery could be paid for the information they provide, under plans being developed by the Serious Fraud Office and put out to public consultation by the Government on Monday.
The move would bring Britain closer to the United States, where financial incentives are used to encourage whistleblowers to provide evidence that can help uncover wrongdoing. The Government said it supports the introduction of an SFO whistleblower incentivisation scheme, to encourage more people to come forward and strengthen the agency's ability to investigate and prosecute serious fraud, bribery and corruption.
Under the proposals, a whistleblower would be eligible for a reward only if the information provided is significant and original, and leads to a conviction or other enforcement action. The consultation, which runs until 8 January 2027, forms part of wider work on the whistleblowing framework in the Employment Rights Act 1996, which protects workers who report wrongdoing from dismissal and other retaliation by their employer.
We welcome this consultation having long-called for the introduction of a scheme to incentivise whistleblowers.Spokesperson for the Serious Fraud Office
"We welcome this consultation having long-called for the introduction of a scheme to incentivise whistleblowers," a spokesperson for the SFO said. "We encourage all those with a view to contribute to the consultation and we look forward to working with our government partners on next steps."
The proposal follows an independent review of fraud prosecution led by Jonathan Fisher KC, which reported in July and warned that Britain was losing valuable intelligence because whistleblowers chose to report wrongdoing to the American authorities, where they could be financially rewarded. Nick Ephgrave, the former director of the SFO, campaigned for whistleblowers to be paid during his tenure, saying doing so had "many benefits".
Britain took a first step towards the American approach last year, when HM Revenue and Customs introduced a reward scheme offering informants up to 30 per cent of the tax recovered in major cases. The SFO, whose jurisdiction covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland, investigates and prosecutes the most serious and complex fraud, bribery and corruption cases.
Not everyone in the legal profession is persuaded. Ian Hargreaves, a partner at Quillon Law, said there are mixed views on how effective such incentives will be, with some arguing it is morally problematic to encourage people to blow the whistle for financial reward, and that it should be a public and social duty, without the need to be paid.
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