[7] On December 8th, 2024, Mister Ephgrave has raised concerns about a significant "brain drain" of whistleblowers leaving the country due to the absence of financial incentives.
This situation is severely impacting the Serious Fraud Office's ability to combat corporate fraud, as many whistleblowers with critical information on economic crimes are opting to provide their intelligence to jurisdictions like the United States, where they can receive monetary rewards for their disclosures.
Ephgrave is advocating for the establishment of a similar reward scheme in the UK that would compensate whistleblowers for information leading to successful convictions.
He emphasized that the current lack of incentives represents a substantial missed opportunity for tackling financial misconduct.
Ephgrave pointed out that if this situation pertained to issues like terrorism or child abuse, there would be widespread outrage; thus, he argues that a proactive approach is necessary to enhance the UK's capacity to address serious fraud and corruption effectively.