Nicholas Wilson
 Nicholas Wilson     (whistleblower) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1958 |
| Exposed | HSBC/Corruption |
Whistleblower who disclosed details of a massive consumer fraud by HSBC. | |
Nicholas Wilson is a whistleblower and anti-corruption campaigner who disclosed details of a massive consumer fraud by HSBC as well as cover-ups by regulators, media and the government over a 13-year period.[1]
Contents
Interim result
As a result, in January 2017 the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) reported that HSBC had voluntarily agreed to set up a £4m compensation scheme for people who had lost out financially as a result of having to pay “unreasonable” debt collection charges imposed by two subsidiaries of the bank. The money will be shared between around 6,700 people who held credit cards with HFC Bank and John Lewis Financial Services, both of which are now part of HSBC.
Nicholas Wilson said he regarded the £4m figure as a joke and his campaign will continue.[2]
Candidate for Hastings
In the 2017 General Election, Nicholas Wilson took his anti-corruption battle into the electoral arena and stood as an Independent candidate at Hastings and Rye, the constituency represented by Home Secretary Amber Rudd, “to highlight the devastating effect financial and other corruption is having on the lives of everyone in the country, and the failure of all the main political parties to tackle the issue.” He said: “I am campaigning at this election as an anti-corruption candidate because corruption affects everybody. As a constituency that contains among some of the most deprived areas in the whole country, the people of Hastings and Rye feel the effects of financial corruption keenly every day, with cuts to their local health, social care and education services year after year. It is time people really understood how this issue is impacting on their lives. I am the only parliamentary candidate standing on an anti-corruption platform. Voting for me will help to bring about a change to the system, as I will relentlessly challenge wrongdoing in parliament just as I have been doing against HSBC.”
Wilson detailed what he sees as corruption in seven areas: education, transport, banking, whistleblowing, housing and environment.
Environmental corruption
On the environment, Wilson turned his fire on MP Amber Rudd who in her former job as Energy and Climate Change minister granted planning permission for a “controversial” gas storage facility to Halite Energy Group, which was represented by Finsbury, a PR and lobby company headed by Amber Rudd’s brother Roland Rudd.
“Our MP did not declare this conflict of interest,” Wilson wrote. Shortly after the story broke in mid 2015, Amber Rudd put an entry in the Parliamentary register of interests acknowledging her brother’s position. She now has no comment to make, her office told the Hastings Online Times.
Whistleblowing
Wilson’s own experiences inform his remarks on whistleblowing:
- “The problem I have encountered in my campaign has been the regulators: Solicitors Regulation Authority, Financial Services Authority, Financial Conduct Authority and the Legal Services Board, all of whom have sought to cover-up or minimise the fraud.
- “Under the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA), whistleblowers are required to report their concerns to a ‘prescribed person’ i.e. a regulator. But if the regulators don’t regulate there is no point in blowing the whistle.”
Wilson outlined the reforms he believes are necessary if whistleblowers are to be able to lift the lid on corruption and financial crime. He lost his job for blowing the whistle on HSBC. His former bosses named him Mr Ethical because he refused to defraud people. He has been fighting corruption under this name ever since:
- “The result of my whistleblowing is that I have become unemployable. I have only been able to continue my anti-corruption campaigning for all these years due to the generosity of people making personal donations towards my work."[3]
Documents by Nicholas Wilson
| Title | Document type | Publication date | Subject(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document:The HSBC Cabal | Article | 11 October 2018 | National Crime Agency Amber Rudd HSBC Rona Fairhead Lisa Osofsky SFO | HSBC paid Lisa Osofsky’s firm $200m a year to monitor the Deferred Prosecution Agreement in the US |
| Document:The Paradise Papers and HSBC. Who | Article | 14 November 2017 | BBC The Guardian Theresa May HSBC Paradise Papers Saudi Aramco | The corruption surrounding Theresa May's seduction of Saudi Aramco to hold its stock market launch (IPO) at the London Stock Exchange next year has involved bribes, lobbying for HSBC and changing the rules by the FCA |
