Whistleblowing in the financial services industry

Expectations of companies on how to handle whistleblowing are increasing generally, with recent changes in legislation and regulation. This includes the new rules issued by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority.

The new rules required organisations subject to the new senior managers and certification regime to have appointed a whistleblowing champion by 07 March 2016. The champion must oversee the introduction of new policies and procedures by 07 September 2016. With the extension of the senior managers and certification regime anticipated in 2018, all financial services organisations will be subject to similar rules.

Simmons & Simmons has put together a whistleblowing toolkit for those who are subject to the new regime. This includes key tools for companies considering how best to deal with issues in relation to whistleblowing including: 

• an overview of the whistleblowers’ champion’s new role
• slides for internal briefings, and
• a checklist for those in the FI sector implementing the new rules from September 2016.