The Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment has launched a campaign aimed at boosting transparency and offering comfort to whistleblowers in the financial services industry.
The speak up campaign, which involves the launch of an interactive workshop, aims to encourage individuals to raise issues early before they develop into major problems.
Speaking at the opening of the campaign, HSBC group chairman Douglas Flint said he wondered why nobody had spoken out in the run-up to the financial crash, adding: “Control systems did not always detect irregularities that were taking place.
“Concerns that did exist in the organisation were not always escalated to the point where they could have been addressed.”
CISI also surveyed 1119 people on whether to introduce a US-style system in which whistleblowers were given financial incentives.
When asked “Should the UK likewise offter rewards to encourage reporting of wrongdoing by companies?” 46 per cent were strongly in favour, 38 per cent were somewhat in favour, 11 per cent somewhat opposed and 8 per cent strongly opposed.
