FCA chair cleared of wrongdoing over whistleblowing investigation

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

The chair of the UK’s financial watchdog has been cleared of wrongdoing over his handling of a whistleblower complaint following an internal investigation.

Financial Conduct Authority chair Ashley Alder came under fire in August after it emerged that he had forwarded correspondence from a whistleblower that included the complainant’s name and details, despite the FCA’s whistleblowing policy not to reveal such information.

Alder “did not follow the [whistleblowing] policy to the letter . . . [but] his aim was simply to ensure that appropriate action was taken” in respect of the complaints, according to a report published by the FCA on Monday.

The whistleblower was dismissed from the regulator in 2021 for alleged misconduct, and lost an employment tribunal case against the authority, a decision they were appealing against at the time the complaint emerged.

Following the allegation, a second individual came forward with a similar complaint over how Alder had handled their own disclosure, the report said. Both individuals were former employees.

“I take our responsibilities to whistleblowers very seriously,” Alder said in a statement on Monday.

“These were unusual and complex cases involving two employees who had left the FCA some years ago and who have raised a range of issues over an extended period of time . . . I wanted to ensure that, as non-executive chair, I was in the best position to act on the concerns of both individuals,” he added.

The regulator said it was already reviewing its whistleblowing policy, “some of its content previously having been identified as somewhat impractical” and the results of this process would be published shortly after drawing on “relevant matters from this review”.

It added that board members and senior officials had been “reminded of the existing policy” and the findings of the review had been accepted in full by the chair and the “whistleblowing champion”.