The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) chair, Ashley Alder, faced calls to resign at the regulator’s first public annual meeting in Edinburgh, as whistleblowers and campaigners challenged its decision to let one of its own non-executive directors investigate how it dealt with Simon Andreisz before his death.
The financial services watchdog faced intense questioning over its decision to appoint non-executive director Lea Paterson to lead the probe into the regulator’s communication with Mr Andreisz and its handling of whistleblowers.
The meeting, held at the Assembly Rooms, was the regulator’s first ever annual public meeting in Scotland. The FCA claimed it was also its largest, with more than 900 people attending online or in person.
Founder of the Transparency Taskforce Andy Agathangelou called for Mr Alder to resign during a heated exchange, which saw the board face intense scrutiny from whistleblowers and campaigners following news of the planned probe.
Mr Agathangelou said: “I personally feel this is wrong, but it’s also quite insulting to the memory of Simon, who was on record over many years expressing his reasons for distrusting the regulator, so the FCA wanting to control the narrative by managing the review. The FCA shouldn’t be allowed to have anything to do with it, and that, of course, includes setting the terms of reference, time frames and, most importantly, choosing the person.”
Mr Andreisz highlighted alleged links between the late sex offender Jeffrey...
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