Today it has emerged that disclosures of wrongdoing by tipsters to the UK's Financial Conduct Authority rose again last year, reaching their highest level in four years, according to a freedom-of-information request made by the spy firm of Kroll. The American figures, however, are declining slightly.

As part of this, tip-offs regarding organisational culture rose by more than one-third in 2019, perhaps inspired by a growing awareness at firms of unacceptable business practices.

Data obtained in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act by Kroll, which is a division of the compliance consultancy of Duff & Phelps, has also revealed that tip-offs to the FCA have reached their highest in four years.

Such reports have increased by 3.5% between 2018 and 2019, three-quarters of them not anonymous - the highest rate since 2014. Kroll adds: "Whilst cases rose this year, the increase was almost half of that seen in 2018, where the number of reports increased 7%."

Meanwhile, the reports of informants to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) decreased slightly in 2019, down 1.3%. These reports reached an all-time high in 2018, up 18% from the previous year. Until now, the number of tips received by the SEC has grown on average by 10% each year since records began in 2012 with the establishment of the SEC's Office of the Whistleblower.

In the UK, the number of tips to the FCA has risen each year since 2014, increasing by a total of 36% over the period. Their most common subject was the fitness and propriety of various people (with 442 cases), followed by systems and controls (396) and compliance (374). The number of concerns regarding compliance saw the sharpest increase, with a rise of 306% between 2018 and 2019.

Kroll believes that the surge in cases involving tipsters in the United States over the last few years can be ascribed to the existence of financial incentives for them. The present regime appears now to be operating at capacity, hence the slight tailing-off of figures.

Numbers in the UK are continuing to rise, but without the same financial incentives in place both the number and quality of reports might begin to drop. Only money can break most cliques apart.

To avoid having to deal with the consequences of embarrassing tips about their cultures, organisations are adding ‘culture checks’ to their other checks. By doing so, they hope to spot problems before they make crucial decisions about acquisitions, new business partners or senior appointments.