• Warning: References to suicide •
The FCA has confirmed that it will review its policy on whistleblowers following the death by suicide of well-known whistleblower Simon Andriesz.
Stephen Braviner Roman, general counsel and chief risk officer at the FCA, said in a blog published yesterday that the regulator has appointed Lea Paterson, an independent non-executive director, to undertake the review.
The review will look at how the regulator interacted with Mr Andriesz and what the regulator can do to improve its whistleblowing policy and procedures.
He said: “We must be open and consider if there are ways in which we can improve, especially in how we interact with people who may be particularly vulnerable. I’m grateful to Lea for taking on this important work. We plan to share any lessons she thinks we should learn from, and how we’ll take them forward, early next year.”
He added that the regulator provided feedback to whistleblowers on the action it took on 1,252 whistleblowing reports it closed in 2025. Of these reports 42% resulted in direct action, with 53% informing the regulator’s wider work.
The group of MPs said that Mr Andriesz’s experience raised deeply troubling questions about the way whistleblowers can be treated when they approach the FCA with concerns about wrongdoing and subsequent retaliation.
It said Mr Andriesz spent 35 successful years in the securities industry before becoming a whistleblower, reporting what he believed to be serious wrongdoing at his former employer.
His disclosures were later validated, the APPG said, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission gave him a formal whistleblower award and HMRC issued a substantial determination concerning matters he had raised.
His case was featured in a BBC File on 4 Investigates broadcast on 14 July, ‘Epstein Files: Lutnick, the Royals and the British Whistleblower’.
He told the BBC how he unearthed evidence suggesting that his former Wall Street employer failed to disclose a business relationship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. In 2016, Mr Andriesz raised concerns internally about accounting irregularities at the firm, leading to him being sacked in 2017.
Mr Andriesz made repeated appeals to senior FCA figures, including the FCA chief executive, for help when he believed the retaliation against him was escalating and when he and his family were in crisis.
The FCA subsequently acknowledged that advice given to Mr Andriesz by an FCA official - that he had lost whistleblower protection because his identity had become known - was incorrect. The FCA apologised and said that further guidance and training would be provided to its whistleblowing team.
The APPG has called for the FCA to pay for an independent party to forensically and objectively evaluate its handling of whistleblowers. It said it was aware that research into the FCA’s handling of whistleblowers was carried out in 2021/2022, but, “at that time the FCA were allowed to ‘mark their own homework.’”
The number of new whistleblowing reports received by the FCA rose 25% year on year to 315 between April and June 2025. The most common allegations reported by whistleblowers were compliance (199), fitness/propriety (162), culture of the organisation (147) and Consumer Duty (98).
• View FCA Annual Public Meeting 2026
• The Samaritans offers support to those with suicidal thoughts or facing difficult times, day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123 or visit www. samaritans.org for more ways to speak to a Samaritan.
Financial Planning Today Analysis: The tragic case of whistleblower Simon Andriesz comes with many lessons for the FCA and financial regulators generally. How whistleblowers are treated before and after their allegations are submitted is of crucial importance to financial regulation and good governance. In the case of Mr Andriesz his whistleblowing drew attention to a significant issue of potential harm but he and his family suffered as a result. That cannot be right. Reform of how whistleblowers are treated in future would be one way of ensuring his life was not in vain. Campaigners will hope the Lea Paterson review is swift and meaningful and leads to lasting change at the regulator. Whistleblowers are one of the ways to ensure financial services and clean and transparent and they need to be protected.