Whistleblowing to the CMA

We use some essential cookies to make this website work. We’d like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services. We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services. You have accepted additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time. You have rejected additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time. You can report wrongdoing to us in confidence. Find out what to expect when you contact us. Have you seen something at work that concerns you? The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is a ‘prescribed person’, which means you may qualify for whistleblowing protection if you tell us about your employer (or ex-employer) possibly breaking competition or consumer protection law. You can contact us online, by phone or by email. If you contact us, we will listen to you carefully and handle your information sensitively, so as to protect your identity from disclosure. You do not have to know everything or be certain that the behaviour is illegal. Just tell us what you already know. The information you share could lead us to investigate and take enforcement action. If you’re thinking about whistleblowing to us, you might have questions about what you need to do. You can report to the CMA as a whistleblower if you: If you are a worker and make a whistleblowing report, you may qualify for legal protection under whistleblowing law. Under these protections, you should not be treated badly by your employer or lose your job just because you’ve spoken out in this way, and a non-disclosure agreement (sometimes called a confidentiality or ‘gagging’ clause) cannot be used to stop you making a whistleblowing report. The CMA cannot give you legal advice, nor can we decide whether or not a whistleblower qualifies for protection. Contact another organisation (such as Protect or Citizens Advice ) to understand your position, or consider finding independent legal advice. If you aren’t a whistleblower but still want to tell the CMA about something, there are other ways to report a problem . You can tell the CMA about your employer or ex-employer: You can report wrongdoing that relates to any area of our work, such as mergers , consumer protection , competition enforcement (such as cartels and other types of anti-competitive behaviour ), and digital markets . We do not deal with: If we cannot deal with your report, check whether another organisation can help you . You can call the CMA before deciding whether to make a full report, if you want to discuss your concerns or understand your options. You can make a report about something that is happening now, or something that happened in the past. The sooner you tell us about what you think is wrong, the clearer your recollection is likely to be and the better the information you’re likely to give. If you’re unsure about your legal protections, or want to discuss your situation before you make a report, consider finding independent legal advice , or contacting Protect or Citizens Advice . Don’t try to investigate and gather information you do not already have. Just tell us what you already know. You don’t have to know everything, but try to tell us: Provide any information you already have that could be relevant (for example, screenshots, emails or documents). Whichever way you contact us, we will: If you call us, we’ll ask you to leave a recorded message. If you leave your contact details, we’ll call you back to discuss your concerns further. If you email us, you will receive an initial automatic reply confirming receipt. We will review your information and, if you have provided contact details, respond within 5 working days. You can report to us anonymously. If you do not provide contact details, we will still review the information you share but we cannot discuss your concerns or next steps with you, and it may limit our ability to act on your information. When comp