MPs call for FCA probe after Lutnick-Epstein whistleblower dies

FCA names Paterson to review its Andriesz case handling

A group of UK MPs has called for the Financial Conduct Authority to fund an independent evaluation of its handling of whistleblowers, citing the death of Simon Andriesz, a British trader who alleged he uncovered evidence of business links between US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

John McDonnell, the Labour backbench MP who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Investment Fraud and Fairer Financial Services, described Andriesz’s death as a “profound and preventable tragedy.” He said whistleblowers were “an essential part of the financial regulatory system” and warned there would be consequences for the integrity of that system if people did not believe they would be “treated properly, protected appropriately and listened to seriously.” The group of MPs has called for the FCA to pay for an independent party to conduct the review.

Andriesz, a former senior employee of BGC Partners, died on 23 September in Thailand. His family said he had taken his own life and that there was no suggestion of foul play.

BGC Partners is the international brokerage firm Lutnick founded and ran before his appointment by US President Donald Trump. Earlier in 2026, Andriesz raised concerns with the FCA, the FBI and other watchdogs about evidence he said he had uncovered of business links between Lutnick and Epstein, which he said cast doubt on Lutnick’s public statements about his associations with the late sex offender.

Andriesz also submitted evidence to the FCA to support allegations of misconduct at BGC, including a claim that cash from the pool of commission money set aside to pay brokers’ bonuses was “embezzled” for improper purposes — an allegation the firm has denied.

In July, Andriesz told MPs and campaigners that he had uncovered evidence that Lutnick had sought, in his words, to “buy a prince” — offering to go into business with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in 2013 and use the former prince’s contacts to attract investments, in exchange for a £1 million loan. BGC told the BBC the proposed joint venture did not go ahead.

At the same July event, Andriesz said the FCA had been fully informed about other serious allegations he had made as long ago as 2018 and accused the regulator of inaction. The FCA told the BBC in July that it had acted on his allegations and pointed to a supervision order it had issued based on his information.

Weeks before his death, Andriesz told a public event led by MPs, whistleblowers and campaigners calling for fairer regulation that he felt “thoroughly let down” and had been put through “absolute hell” by the FCA, to whom he had sent evidence of what he regarded as whistleblower retaliation by BGC and its lawyers.

The FCA had previously told Andriesz there was “insufficient evidence” to conclude there had been retaliation — a conclusion he believed made it harder to win a claim against BGC at tribunal. In Andriesz’s view, the supervision order amounted to little more than a regulatory “slap on the wrist.”

Later in July, he told a meeting of the campaign group the Transparency Task Force that the FCA was not fulfilling its obligations to the public and whistleblowers and merely “pays lip service” to the rules and regulations. “It protects the institution and then exposes the whistleblower to extreme retaliation and devastation to their lives and families,” he said.

The FCA has since announced it is appointing Lea Paterson, a former Bank of England director who has just joined the regulator’s board as a non-executive director, to conduct a review into Andriesz’s treatment and the FCA’s handling of his whistleblower allegations.

“We are very sorry to hear of Mr Andriesz’s death. Our thoughts are with his family and friends,” an FCA spokesperson said. “Since expressing our condolences, we’d asked Lea Paterson, who has just joined our board as a non-executive director, to review how we interacted with Mr Andriesz to learn any lessons for the future.”

BGC previously told the BBC it had strong policies protecting whistleblowers and denied retaliating against Andriesz.