Barclays (LON: BARC) chief executive Jes Staley has been fined £642,430 by City regulators after he attempted to unmask a whistleblower.
The Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority began their investigation a year ago and said the boss failed to “act with due skill, care and diligence.”
Barclays has also said it plans to cut Staley’s bonus by £500,000. His bonus in 2016 was £1.6 million.
“I have consistently acknowledged that my personal involvement in this matter was inappropriate, and I have apologised for mistakes which I made,” said Stayley.
“I accept the conclusions of the board, the FCA, and the PRA, following their respective investigations, and the sanctions which they have each applied.”
The whistleblowing took place in 2016 when letters were sent to the bank’s board raising concerns about Tim Main’s recruitment as head of the bank’s financial institutions group in New York.
Staley attempted to track down the author of the letters using the bank’s internal security unit.
“Mr Staley breached the standard of care required and expected of a chief executive in a way that risked undermining confidence in Barclays’ whistleblowing procedures. Chief executives must act with a high degree of care and prudence at all times,” said Mark Steward, the FCA executive director.
“Whistleblowers play a vital role in exposing poor practice and misconduct in the financial services sector. It is critical that individuals are able to speak up anonymously and without fear of retaliation if they want to raise concerns.”
Both regulators fined Staley ten percent of his £4.5 million total pay package. The total fine would have reached £917,800 but the chief executive agreed to settle early in the investigation.
Staley will continue as the group’s chief executive after the regulators concluded that he had made “a very significant adjustment” to his 2016 compensation.