Prescribed Persons Annual Report 2025/26

We regulate the conduct of nearly 35,000 UK businesses, prudentially supervise around 32,000 firms, and set standards for around 17,000 firms. Our strategic objective is to make sure relevant markets function well. Our operational objectives are to:

• protect consumers
• protect the integrity of the UK financial system
• promote effective competition in the interests of consumers

Since 2023, we also have a secondary objective to support the international competitiveness and growth of the UK economy over the medium to long term, subject to alignment with international standards.

As a Prescribed Person, we are legally required to publish this report annually. We accept whistleblowing disclosures on matters within our remit[1] and may act on this information. The Department for Business and Trade sets out the full list of matters[2] that can be reported to us under whistleblowing legislation.

Whistleblowers are protected under the Employment Rights Act 1996, as amended by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA), where disclosures are in the public interest and relate to serious issues such as fraud, safety risks, or breaches of the law.

Reports can be made to employers or prescribed persons, such as the FCA. We may still review information even if it doesn’t meet PIDA criteria. 

This report covers all cases reviewed under our whistleblowing process. We do not include any information that could identify whistleblowers, or those they report.

Between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026, we received and assessed 1,375 new whistleblowing reports. This is a 22% increase from 2024/25, demonstrating the public having continued trust in reporting to us. The web form remains the most commonly used reporting method since its introduction in 2021.

We assess all whistleblowing reports carefully to identify and prioritise key information. This helps to ensure we understand and act on relevant insights. Using intelligence quickly is critical to our interventions. By reviewing information as soon as we receive it, we can identify serious or high-risk activity early and act more quickly to reduce harm.

We recognise the importance of transparency. We want whistleblowers to see how their reports contribute to regulatory action. Some reports take longer to progress, particularly where they lead to, or support, more serious action.

In the past year, we closed 1,252 whistleblowing cases. This is 511 fewer than 2024/25. The higher number of closures last year reflected a targeted effort to address a backlog of older cases. This work helps us focus on current and active cases more quickly. It also improves our understanding of emerging risks and trends. 

Overall, 42% of all cases closed in this period led to direct action.  A further 53% informed our wider work and supported harm prevention. These cases provide a strong source of intelligence, helping us oversee the markets we regulate more effectively. 

Table 1 shows the action we took for all whistleblowing cases concluded during the reporting period.

Table 1: FCA responses to whistleblowing reports

(Source: FCA whistleblowing data)

Whistleblowers can choose to remain anonymous when reporting to us. We want whistleblowers to feel comfortable sharing concerns so they can provide clear and relevant information to support our review. Providing contact details can help us follow up and work with whistleblowers to develop their reports during our review. 

In January 2026, we refined the categories used to record allegation types. This improves clarity and allows us to provide more detailed information. Each whistleblowing report contains one or more allegations of wrongdoing. In 2025/26, 1,375 reports resulted in 4,375 separate allegations, covering a wide range of issues. 

Because of these changes, we present the top 10 allegations for 2 separate periods: April 2025 to December 2025 and January 2026 to March 2026. See figure 3 and 4 below.

Whistleblowing reports provide important insights into the firms and sectors we regulate, helping us protect consumers. We support and encourage whistleblowers in several ways:   

• Dedicated team – Our whistleblowing team engages with whistleblowers, record reports, and ensure the relevant FCA team assess them.
   
• Ongoing contact – We maintain contact with whistleblowers during the review process when requested.
   
• Assessment and review approach – We assess reports based on the information provided to decide what action to take. We ensure appropriate FCA teams review each report.
   
• Confidentiality and secure handling – We accept disclosures from individuals who require confidentiality, including workers and former workers protected by PIDA. We store reports in a secure system and anonymise them to protect whistleblower identities.  
   
• Feedback – We provide feedback to whistleblowers through a letter when a case is closed.
   
• Guidance for firms – We have published rules and guidance[3] for regulated firms on their internal whistleblowing arrangements.
   
• Intelligence gathering – Even where direct action isn’t possible due to insufficient information or lack of regulatory issues, reports still inform our broader understanding of a firm, sector or market behaviour.
   

We regularly review our whistleblowing approach to identify ways to improve and ensure our processes remain efficient, effective, and focused on key risks. 

As our responsibilities expand, including oversight of anti-money laundering supervision for legal, accountancy, and trust and company service providers, we expect whistleblowing volumes to increase. Ongoing review and refinement will remain important. 

We continue to improve our end-to-end whistleblowing process to manage the reports and review more effectively. This includes:

Team re-structuring

We restructured the team to better manage case volumes and complexity. This has improved our ability to review and assess information more quickly and manage demand. 

Enhanced case management system

We introduced a new whistleblowing case management tool. This provides a secure, efficient way to record information and share it with relevant FCA teams for assessment.

Wider engagement

We continue to engage with the wider whistleblowing community and external partners. Over the past year, this included participation in Whistleblowing Awareness Week and engagement with Parliament and industry experts on potential legislative changes. 

We also work with organisations such as Protect and other UK and international regulators to share insight and maintain an open and transparent approach to whistleblowing, including policy, protections, and how regulators structure their whistleblowing programmes.