LONDON — UK regulators have decided Barclays CEO Jes Staley must pay a fine for his attempts to try and identify an internal bank whistleblower back in 2016.
Barclays announced on Friday that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) had concluded their year-long investigation into the incident.
They decided that the incident “represented a breach of Individual Conduct Rule 2 (requirement to act with due skill, care and diligence) and each have proposed that he pay a financial penalty.”
Barclays will also have to “report to the FCA and PRA on certain aspects of their whistleblowing programmes,” as part of the settlement.
Barclays’ board was sent an anonymous letter in 2016 raising concerns about Staley’s decision to hire a senior executive. The letter raised questions about the executive’s past, according to the Telegraph. In response, Staley asked Barclays internal security chief to try and identify the person or persons behind the letter. It is this decision to go after an anonymous whistleblower that has got Staley in trouble.
The FCA and PRA said in a joint statement supplied to Business Insider on Friday: “The FCA and the PRA have now concluded investigations into the CEO of Barclays and Barclays Bank Plc. We have issued draft warning notices in respect to the CEO and will announce the outcome once this issue has reached a conclusion.”
Both regulators declined to comment on how much Staley would have to pay.
Barclay’s board have already issued Staley with a “formal written reprimand” and said they will make “a very significant compensation adjustment” to his bonus.
The board said on Friday that it “continues to have unanimous confidence in Mr Staley and continues to recommend his re-election as a Director at the Barclays Annual General Meeting on 1 May 2018.”
Staley now has a period to challenge the finding of the FCA and PRA, and argue his side of the case before a final fine is set.
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