Freedom of information request casts doubt on the strength of the regulator’s investigation into how it treated former banker Simon Andriesz
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Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell has questioned the timing and strength of the UK regulator’s investigation into how it treated whistleblower Simon Andriesz after a freedom of information request throws doubt on how the FCA’s review was constructed.
After Andriesz took his own life in September the watchdog said it had asked Lea Paterson, who recently joined its board as a non-executive director, to review how the regulator “interacted with Mr Andriesz to learn any lessons for the future”.
The FCA’s chair Ashley Alder later said the regulator considered the move “very, very carefully”, while the watchdog’s chief executive, Nikhil Rathi, said the board had asked for the review and that it had weighed “a range of options”.
A freedom of information request, however, appears to show that there was “no record of careful consideration, no record of the range of options and no record of any assessment of Paterson’s independence”, according to McDonnell.
He said that when asked for the records behind that decision, the FCA produced just one email.
“Mr Alder sent it to the non-executive directors at 7.20pm on 5 October. In it he writes: ‘I asked Lea Paterson whether she would be willing to conduct a review… Lea has kindly agreed.’ Isn’t that the chair telling the board about a decision he had already...
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