Ashley Alder, chair of the FCA, has been accused of revealing the identity of an internal whistleblower despite the regulator wanting to protect her identity.
editorial
This content was selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based on its relevance and interest to our community.
The chairman is accused of doing this by forwarding emails containing the whistleblower’s name, address and complaints FT reports.
The concerns allegedly related to opaque hiring practices raised by a former employee who was fired in 2021 for alleged misconduct.
The FT reports that the FCA has launched a second internal review into this whistleblower to review its processes for deciding whether allegations of misconduct should be formally investigated internally.
In December, emails were sent to Alder and Liam Coleman, FCA whistleblowing champion, after the former employee felt that concerns he had raised via a whistleblower hotline were only partially addressed. The FCA did not comment to the FT on whether the staff who considered the complaint beyond Alder and Coleman were part of the official whistleblower team.
The whistleblower’s emails said “PRIVATE – FOR THE ADDRESSEE ONLY” and referred to the FCA’s anonymity guidelines.
The FT spoke to the whistleblower who said they were “angry, stunned and speechless” about the emails being forwarded. They accused the FCA of “incompetence and incompetence”.
An FCA spokesman told the FT it would not be commenting on the case “as an employment tribunal case involving the individual is ongoing”.