Start your 14-day free trial, no card neededTry it free

Finance & Regulated Teams

Conduct reporting that meets regulated firm duties

Structured disclosure routes for regulated firms—aligned with FCA expectations, and distinct from complaints and incident systems.

Start Free Trial
Compliance and governance professionals reviewing information in a financial services boardroom
1,131

New whistleblowing reports received and assessed by the FCA between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025.

Source: FCA Prescribed Persons Annual Report 2024/25 · View source

908

Times the FCA took direct action against firms based on whistleblower information in 2024/25.

Source: FCA Prescribed Persons Annual Report 2024/25 · View source

2,684

Separate allegations contained in FCA whistleblowing reports during the 2024/25 reporting period.

Source: FCA Prescribed Persons Annual Report 2024/25 · View source

What can be reported through your firm’s whistleblowing channel?

Speaking-up in regulated firms sits between conduct risk, financial crime controls, and personal accountability under SMCR. Non-financial misconduct themes—bullying, harassment, and discrimination—must be routed with the same rigour as control and regulatory breaches, and must never be parked in a customer complaints queue.

  • Disclosures conflated with customer complaints

    Staff concerns about conduct, controls, or culture must not be logged in consumer redress systems that lack investigation workflow and audit trail.

  • FCA prescribed-person route vs internal channel unclear

    Workers may not know when to use the FCA’s prescribed-person route versus internal compliance—and internal routes must still produce regulator-ready documentation.

  • SMCR accountability without case ownership

    Senior manager conduct concerns need named investigation owners and controlled visibility—not informal escalation to the SMF holder’s inbox.

  • Non-financial misconduct (NFMI) under-documented

    Bullying, harassment, and discrimination themes need the same case chronology as regulatory breaches—see the FCA’s culture and NFMI survey findings.

  • Financial crime and control failures

    AML, sanctions, fraud, and market integrity concerns require financial-crime ownership without business-line pressure on the case record.

  • Follow-up pushes reporters into corporate email

    Firms still need secure internal follow-up that protects identity when reporters choose anonymity—even when they later engage with the FCA directly.

Process design

How whistleblowing reports are handled in regulated firms

A five-step internal route connecting disclosure intake, compliance ownership, and board-ready records—without mixing whistleblowing into unrelated operational systems.

Disclosurely case management dashboard
Step 1
Report submitted

Worker submits via secure portal or documented hotline route

Owner: Anonymous or identified reporter

→
Step 2
Acknowledgement

Tracking reference issued; category and FCA reportability assessed where applicable

Owner: Compliance intake

→
Step 3
Clarification

Two-way messaging gathers detail and evidence without corporate email

Owner: Assigned investigator

→
Step 4
Investigation

Findings documented with role-based access for compliance, HR, or financial crime

Owner: Named case owner

→
Step 5
Resolution

Outcome logged; themes for audit committee and regulator-ready export

Owner: Company secretariat / board

Product fit

A secure reporting channel for finance and regulated teams

Regulated firms need an internal route they can defend alongside FCA whistleblowing obligations—not a call-centre brochure. Disclosurely structures that internal route; it does not replace regulatory reporting or SMCR accountability.

Regulated-firm compliance team reviewing case records in a financial services office

Audit trail for regulatory review

Receipt, ownership, messages, files, and status changes in one case record—supporting internal audit, audit committee packs, and FCA interaction documentation.

Role-based access for NFMI and SMCR cases

Need-to-know visibility for non-financial misconduct and senior manager investigations without circulating details through corporate email.

Kept separate from complaints systems

Configure categories and owners so staff disclosures about conduct and controls stay in a whistleblowing workflow—not a consumer redress queue.

FAQ

Whistleblowing FAQs for regulated firms

Questions specific to regulated firms and SMCR pathways. For anonymity see anonymous reporting, for security see security, and for pricing see pricing.

No. Disclosurely supports your internal route. Workers may still make disclosures to the FCA as a prescribed person, and firms remain responsible for SYSC and SMCR accountability.

Most firms place whistleblowing ownership with compliance or a nominated whistleblowing champion, with escalation to the relevant SMF holder and audit committee for serious matters. Exact mapping should match your SMCR statements of responsibility.

Yes. Staff conduct and control disclosures should sit in a distinct workflow from consumer redress. Use categories and ownership so customer complaints teams are not the default handlers for regulated speaking-up cases.

First-line managers escalate and support culture; second-line compliance owns triage and investigation coordination; third-line internal audit and the audit committee provide independent assurance. Disclosurely records ownership and handoffs so that map stays visible.

A defensible chronology—when the report was received, who owned it, what follow-up occurred, what evidence was held, and how it was closed. Disclosurely is designed to keep that history together rather than scattered across email.

Both need a case record. Ownership often differs—HR or conduct teams for non-financial misconduct, financial crime for AML and market integrity—with compliance coordinating triage. Categories and role-based access keep those tracks separate without losing a single chronology.

Give your firm a clear speak-up channel

Set up a branded reporting portal kept separate from customer complaints—with records ready for audit and regulatory review.

Start Free Trial