Financial
Conduct Authority says conduct of former Blackrock MD Jonathan Paul Burrows
fell short of the standards expected in the City
The Guardian, Jennifer Rankin, Monday 15 December 2014
 |
| Jonathan Paul Burrows has been barred by the Financial Conduct Authority from taking any job in the regulated financial services industry. Photograph: Jamie Wiseman / Daily Mail/Solo Syndication |
A former
City executive has been banned for life from any senior role in the financial
services industry, after being exposed as one of the UK’s biggest train fare dodgers.
Jonathan
Paul Burrows, a former managing director at Blackrock Asset Management, has
been barred by the Financial Conduct Authority from taking any responsible role
in the financial services industry.
Announcing the ban, the FCA’s director of enforcement and financial crime, Tracey
McDermott, said: “Burrows held a senior position within the financial services
industry. His conduct fell short of the standards we expect. Approved persons
must act with honesty and integrity at all times and, where they do not, we will
take action.”
His
dishonest behaviour came to the attention of the City watchdog after it came to
light that he had saved himself almost £43,000 over several years by exploiting
a loophole at the ticket barriers.
The East
Sussex commuter boarded the London-bound train at Stonegate, a rural station
with no ticket barriers. When he arrived at Cannon Street station in London, he
tapped in using an Oyster card, paying a £7.20 fare, rather than the £21.50
cost of his journey.
Burrows
avoided prosecution after making an out-of-court-settlement with Southeastern
railways, but had to resign from his high-flying job at Blackrock after a
public outcry.
He told the
FCA he knew he was breaking the law and had not disclosed his behaviour to his
employer. The FCA said they had taken these facts into account when deciding
what action to take.
Today’s
ruling ends Burrows’s lucrative City career. At Blackrock he had reportedly
earned £1m a year. He will never again be allowed into a position of authority,
although, in theory, he could take junior back-office jobs.
In a
statement after the FCA ruling, Burrows said: “I have always recognised that
what I did was foolish. I have apologised to all concerned and reiterate that
apology publicly today.”
“While I
respect the FCA’s decision today, I also regret it, coming as it did after a
20-year career in the City that was without blemish. I recognise that the FCA
has on its plate more profound wrongdoing than mine in the financial services
sector, and I am sorry that my case has taken up its time at this critical
juncture for the future of the City and its reputation.”
Last year
the FCA banned 43 people from working in senior financial services jobs for
failing the “fit and proper” test, but few attracted as much attention as
Burrows. The fund manager initially managed to keep his identity secret through
an out-of-court settlement that roused the anger of unions. At the time, Manuel
Cortes, the leader of the TSSA transport union, said the anonymous agreement
showed there was one law for the rich and one for the poor. Burrows’s identity
was first revealed by the Daily Mail, who contrasted his “two huge,
mortgage-free mansions in the East Sussex countryside” with the £4,500 cost of
the season ticket.
The
majority of people subject to an FCA ban have committed offences at work and
Burrows is only the second person to be banned by for wrongdoing unrelated to
his job. His case follows senior money-market manager Anthony Verrier, who
earlier this year accepted an FCA ban , after being censured by a high court
judge for dishonesty.
Many
commuters voiced anger that Burrows avoided prosecution, but others expressed a sneaking admiration that he managed to get away with it for so long.
The £43,000
that Burrows repaid to Southeastern trains was calculated on the basis of
single fares. This meant the settlement cost him £20,000 more than if he had
bought season tickets.
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