Protecting whistle-blowers in the UK financial industry

The author aims to investigate the current status of legal protection of whistle-blowers. She will focus on the treatment of the ex-Head of Regulatory Risk at HBOS before the financial crisis of 2007. The author then reviews the whistle-blowing policies and Codes of Conduct of five UK banks and compares them with the policies in the health industry. The article first utilises the black letter law approach to review the current status of legal protection to whistle-blowers. The author then undertakes empirical research into the whistle-blowing policies and Codes of Conduct of five major UK banks. She also adopts a comparative socio-legal analysis, studying the law in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Whistle-blowers play an important role in increasing transparency and informing regulators to stay ahead of malpractice. Legislation alone cannot protect whistle-blowers fully. Corporate governance measures and a tripartite gatekeeping model between the regulator, Chief Risk Officer and auditors are required to give whistle-blowers more protection. This article will have policy implications for practitioners and policymakers on national and international dimensions. Whistle-blowing in the financial industry has been neglected in the major corporate governance and banking regulation reports. The author combines empirical research with her own model of tripartite gatekeeping to protect whistle-blowers in the financial world. This article is thus original and valuable to both academics and practitioners.