FCA launches probe into treatment of UK whistleblower after Epstein-Lutnick whistleblower is found dead in Thailand

From the Newshound archive · first published 5 October 2026 · last updated 7 October 2026.

Simon Andriesz, 57, a British former managing director at BGC Partners, was found hanged in Thailand on September 23 after spending years exposing alleged undisclosed business ties between US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Financial Conduct Authority has now asked independent board member Lea Paterson to examine whether it failed in its duty of care toward Andriesz, who had warned the watchdog that retaliation against him was "escalating" and that he and his family were "in crisis." Weeks before his death, Andriesz told an MPs' event he felt "thoroughly let down" and had been put through "absolute hell" by the regulator.

The FCA had wrongly told Andriesz he had lost whistleblower protection because his identity had become known, then apologised — but MPs warn the review amounts to the watchdog "marking its own homework."

Andriesz also unearthed evidence Lutnick sought to "buy a prince" in 2013, allegedly offering Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor a £1m loan in exchange for access to his contacts; BGC says the proposed venture never went ahead.

His family said he was "a man with a very strong sense of right and wrong" who "continued to speak out because he genuinely believed that doing so mattered."