The FCA’s ban of former Barclays CEO and the lesson on the importance of honesty

It was hard to avoid the press coverage of the FCA’s ban of former Barclays CEO James Staley, last week. It’s certainly highly significant and the FCA will want to draw attention to it, but it remains to be seen whether this will be seen as a turning point in enforcement actions against senior managers, particularly in respect of misconduct not directly related to regulated activities. However, the central message for those working in UK financial services is clear: be absolutely open and honest in your dealings with the regulator. There is almost no worse offence in their eyes than telling falsehoods or being economical with the truth.

When individuals put themselves forward for FCA approvals as senior managers, we always urge them to rack their brains for anything they may need to make the FCA aware of, because provided they are completely up-front about everything, the FCA will usually take a sympathetic view of minor and/or historic misconduct. Time will tell whether this will have implications for the senior managers’ regime which is currently under review, but it is likely that its focus will remain on streamlining the process for FCA approval of senior managers rather than the rigour with which it is applied.

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