Tomorrow RUSI launches its new paper looking at the benefits of introducing rewards for whistleblowers in the fight against economic crime. Protect, the UK’s whistleblowing charity, was established to encourage public interest concerns to be raised, investigated and addressed – including issues of bribery, corruption and fraud. For most of those who call our Advice Line, there is no question of rewards, nor does the concept make sense except in circumstances where substantial fines are levied against wrongdoers and collected by enforcement bodies.
Whistleblowers are employees or workers who raise concerns about wrongdoing or malpractice that could harm others at work. They play a vital role in helping businesses and regulators combat economic crimes like corruption and fraud.
As insiders, employees are well-positioned to detect early signs of money laundering or bribery, often having access to critical information that can aid in tackling these crimes. However, they are also at greater risk of retaliation compared to the public, as they often work alongside those involved in misconduct and may face threats to their job security or personal safety if they speak up.
US style rewards benefit very few individual whistleblowers but lead to many thousands of tips being made to regulators. Those calling for the introduction of rewards need to ensure that regulators are appropriately resourced to deal with any increase in the amount or type of information received.
Whistleblower rewards may have a role to play in encouraging whistleblowers with valuable information about economic crime to come forward to regulators. However, several other key policy changes are also needed for reward schemes to help regulators and law enforcement improve information in the fight against economic crime.