The boss of the UK financial watchdog has said “difficult decisions” have to be taken with some whistleblowers after an investigation was triggered following the suicide of a banker who flagged alleged ties between Jeffrey Epstein and the US commerce secretary.
Nikhil Rathi, the chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, told MPs on Tuesday that it was “important for us to reflect on how we communicated and how we engaged with the individual” following the news of Simon Andriesz’s death last month.
Andriesz had worked as a managing director at BGC Group, a financial brokerage where Howard Lutnick had served as chief executive. Lutnick was named Donald Trump’s commerce secretary in late 2024.
In 2020-2021, Andriesz is reported to have told the FBI that Lutnick had undeclared business ties with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Lutnick has denied any “personal or professional” relationship with Epstein.
In an interview with the BBC, Andriesz accused the US and UK authorities of failing to hold BGC to account and protect him from potential retaliation. He has also accused the FCA directly of mistreating whistleblowers.
FCA boss: Whistleblowing some of most sensitive work
The FCA has previously apologised for giving misleading information to Andriesz regarding how he would qualify for whistleblower protection.
“Whistleblowing work is some of the most sensitive work the FCA undertakes,” Rathi said in a hearing with the Treasury committee.
“Over recent years we have established enhanced feedback”.
The case has sparked a wave of criticism towards the FCA and has led to the watchdog tasking non-executive board member Lea Paterson with reviewing the regulator’s interactions with Andriesz and identifying lessons for the future.
Rathi said Paterson will be able to “recommend anything that she thinks is appropriate,” adding “we take every report we see seriously”.
He told MPs “one of the most challenging situations” the FCA faces with the whistleblowers is those viewing the regulator as a “last resort” after gaining “no satisfaction” with the police and employment tribunal.
“We sometimes have to take the careful and difficult decision to draw some correspondence to close… we know that can generate a lot of anger…we have to make sure resources are devoted to cases where we can take some action”.
The FCA received 1300 whistleblowing reports in the 2025 to 2026 period, Rathi said, which was up 20 per cent on the previous year.