Tribunal uphold FCA’s prohibition order against former Barclays CEO (Staley v FCA)
Financial Services analysis: The Upper Tribunal upheld the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) decision to issue James Staley, former Barclays CEO, a prohibition order under section 56 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000) for breaches of Individual Conduct Rule (ICR) 1 (acting with integrity), ICR3 (being open and cooperative with regulators), and Senior Manager Conduct Rule (SMCR) 4 (appropriately disclosing information of which the Authority would reasonably expect) as a result of him not being appropriately forthcoming about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein after the FCA made an enquiry into the same. However, the Tribunal reduced his financial penalty from £1,812,800 to £1,107,306.92 as it found that the FCA had miscalculated Mr Staley’s financial benefit. The judgment acts as an important reminder of (1) the severe consequences of breaching the FCA’s Code of Conduct, (2) the FCA’s responsibility to keep an appropriate record of its enquiries, and (3) the Tribunal’s scope to vary penalties issued by the FCA. Written by Thomas Samuels, barrister at Henderson Chambers.