Britain's financial regulator is reviewing its treatment of a whistleblower who took his own life after revealing alleged wrongdoing at a Wall Street brokerage formerly run by US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick. Simon Andriesz's suicide last month has triggered controversy over whether the Financial Conduct Authority was supportive enough of the 57-year-old and whether it took his allegations of retaliation by his former employer sufficiently seriously. A cross-party group of MPs has warned Andriesz's death raised deeply troubling questions and called for an external inquiry into the FCA's handling of whistleblowers.
The FCA told the FT it had asked Lea Paterson, a former Bank of England official who recently joined the regulator's board as a non-executive, to lead a review examining how it interacted with Mr Andriesz to learn any lessons for the future. The regulator aims to publish the conclusions of its internal review by the end of the year.
Andriesz blew the whistle to several US and UK regulators about alleged wrongdoing at BGC Group, a listed broker controlled by Cantor Fitzgerald where he was a managing director. While other regulators imposed penalties on BGC as a result of information Andriesz provided, he told a recent event that the FCA did not investigate most of his allegations and only took supervisory action that was basically a slap on the wrist. However, while other regulators imposed penalties on BGC as a result of information Andriesz provided, he told a recent event that the FCA did not investigate most of his allegations and only took supervisory action that was basically a slap on the wrist.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing