Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

SFO director backs whistleblower compensation from corporate settlements to accelerate cases, confirming SOCPA 2005 leniency for suspects is separate

Published on: 15 May 2024

Published by a Law360 reporter

Legal News

Article summary

Corporate insiders could be spurred to blow the whistle on fraud, corruption and bribery if the financial incentives matched the potential reputational damage caused by informing on their company, SFO Director Nick Ephgrave said in his first hearing before the House of Commons' Justice Committee.

In his inaugural appearance before the House of Commons’ Justice Committee, SFO Director Nick Ephgrave suggested that employees might be more willing to report bribery, corruption and fraud if rewards reflected the reputational risks of exposing their employer. He framed it as aligning payments with the potential reputational harm that can follow naming one’s own company, especially where the conduct involves fraud, corruption or bribery. He noted many would-be whistleblowers feel 'caught' between principle and practicality, worrying that careers and livelihoods could be derailed; balancing the wish to reveal wrongdoing with such practical concerns is, he said, a dilemma. Getting the incentivisation right, he said, would give people confidence that, if they risk their lifestyle and a prosecution succeeds, recompense at the end would mean they do not lose everything, providing a degree of assurance. By contrast with the US, where the vast majority of corporate settlements stem from whistleblowers, only a small proportion of UK cases...

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