Whistleblowers triggered 1 in 10 SFO tips last year—now officials want to pay them for more
The Serious Fraud Office has renewed calls for whistleblowers to be financially rewarded, after revealing that more than 10% of its referrals in the past year came from insiders speaking out.
Of the 1,450 reports received by the SFO between April 2024 and March 2025, whistleblower disclosures accounted for a significant portion, according to the agency’s annual report. The findings provide fresh ammunition for the fraud watchdog’s push to introduce incentives aimed at accelerating its lengthy investigations and securing faster prosecutions.
SFO director Nick Ephgrave, in his foreword to the report, stated plainly: “We are driving the argument for the incentivisation of whistleblowers.” It’s not the first time he’s raised the prospect—last year Ephgrave openly backed the idea that paying whistleblowers might help speed up the SFO’s notoriously slow pursuit of complex economic crimes.
Ephgrave’s comments come as the SFO attempts to modernise its strategy and shed its reputation for delays and missed opportunities. In the same report, the agency announced the creation of a new “crypto cadre”—a specialist team set up to tackle the rising use of cryptoassets in sophisticated financial wrongdoing. The group will roll out operational guidance and bespoke training to help staff navigate this rapidly evolving frontier of white-collar crime.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe whistleblower figures and crypto plans are among the standout details in the first annual report published under the SFO’s new five-year strategy. The document, covering operations to 31 March 2025, offers a snapshot of an agency grappling with heavy expectations and a growing caseload.
Over the 12-month period, the SFO opened around 35 criminal investigations, charged 11 individuals across two cases, and spent more than 90 days in trial settings across three separate proceedings. Among those charged are former senior figures linked to the collapsed law firm Axiom Ince, who now await trial over alleged criminal misconduct.
Despite those headline moves, the SFO’s current load remains daunting. The agency is handling approximately 130 ongoing matters—including criminal prosecutions, civil enforcement actions, confiscation of criminal proceeds, and international legal assistance cases.
The renewed push to incentivise whistleblowers aligns with long-standing frustrations within the fraud-fighting community over the limited tools available to expose hidden criminality. Advocates argue that insiders often hold the key to unlocking fraud schemes but may stay silent without the promise of protection or compensation.
The UK currently offers no formal financial reward scheme for whistleblowers in fraud cases—a stark contrast to jurisdictions like the United States, where tipsters can earn a share of recovered assets. The SFO’s stance signals a potential shift in tone from a traditionally conservative enforcement landscape.
As economic crime grows more technical, global, and digitised, the agency’s renewed appetite for reform—and for tapping insider knowledge—is a clear message: those with secrets to tell might soon find it’s worth their while.