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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is registered as a limited company in England and Wales No. 1920623. Registered office: 25 The North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HS, United Kingdom

The Payment Systems Regulator Limited is registered as a limited company in England and Wales No. 8970864. Registered office: 25 The North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HS, United Kingdom

Switchboard 020 7066 1000

Web Site http://www.fca.org.uk (FCA); http://www.psr.org.uk (the Payment Systems Regulator Limited)

Telephone:  020 7066 8080

Email:         [1][FCA request email]

 

Our ref:        FOI5239

 

Dear Mr Taylor

 

Freedom of Information : Right to know request

 

Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the
Act), for the following information):

 

“In April 2017 it was widely reported Jes Staley, CEO of Barclays Bank had
ordered internal security to identify a whistleblower who had informed the
board of some issue, and that the FCA had verified the allegations.

  Can you please give as much information as possible regarding the
subject matter reported by the whistleblower?”

 

Your request has now been considered.  While we are aware of the
allegations, we can neither confirm nor deny that we hold information
falling within scope of your request as it is considered information which
relates to the business affairs of the firm or individual concerned which,
if we did hold it, would be confidential information for the purposes of
section 348 Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 ("FSMA"). We are
prohibited from disclosing such information, where we hold it, under
section 44 (Prohibitions on disclosure) of the Act.  For a detailed
explanation as to why this exemption applies please refer to the Annex A
attached.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Information Disclosure Team / Cyber and Information Resilience Department

[2]cid:image003.jpg@01D04D1A.B7D20FF0

Financial Conduct Authority

25 The North Colonnade

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5HS

 

Tel:    +44 (0)20 7066 8080

[3]www.the-fca.org.uk

 

 

Your right to complain under the FoI Act

 

If you are unhappy with the decision made in relation to your request, you
have the right to request an internal review.  If you wish to exercise
this right you should contact us within three months of the date of this
response.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you also
have a right of appeal to the Information Commissioner at Information
Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9
5AF.  Telephone: 01625 545 700.  Website: [4]www.ico.org.uk

 

 

Annex A

 

·                General right of access to information held by public
authorities

 

Under section 1(1)(a) of the Act, any person making a request for
information to a public authority is entitled to be informed in writing by
the public authority whether it holds information of the description
specified in the request.  If the public authority holds information of
the type specified in the request, the person requesting the information
is entitled under section 1(1)(b) to have the information communicated to
them.  The rights in section 1(1)(a) and (b) are subject to a number of
exclusions and exemptions.

·                Section 44 (Prohibitions on disclosure)

 

Section 44(2) of the Act provides that the duty to confirm or deny whether
a public authority holds the information requested does not arise if the
confirmation or denial that would have to be given to comply with that
duty would amongst other things (and apart from under the Act), be
prohibited by or under any enactment.

 

Section 44 is an absolute exemption which means that if it is engaged, a
weighing of the public interest for and against maintaining the exclusion
of the duty to confirm or deny whether the information is held by a public
authority is not required. 

 

Section 348 of FSMA prevents the FCA from disclosing "confidential
information" it has received except in certain limited circumstances (none
of which would apply here).  “Confidential information” for these purposes
is defined as non-public and non-anonymised information which relates to
the business or other affairs of any person and which was received by the
FCA (or its predecessor the FSA) for the purposes of, or in the discharge
of, its functions under FSMA which is not in the public domain.

 

If we held information falling within the scope of your request (which we
do not confirm or deny) it would be “confidential information” received by
the FSA/FCA in the discharge of its functions under FSMA.  As noted above,
disclosure of such “confidential information”, without the consent of the
provider of the information, and, if different, the consent of the person
to whom the information relates would be a breach of section 348 of FSMA
and would be a criminal offence.

 

 

 

This communication and any attachments contain information which is
confidential and may be subject to legal privilege. It is for intended
recipients only. If you are not the intended recipient you must not copy,
distribute, publish, rely on or otherwise use it without our consent. Some
of our communications may contain confidential information which it could
be a criminal offence for you to disclose or use without authority. If you
have received this email in error please notify [email address]
immediately and delete the email from your computer. Further information
on the classification and handling of FCA information can be found on the
FCA website
(http://www.fca.org.uk/site-info/legal/fc...).

The FCA (or, if this email originates from the Payment Systems Regulator
Limited, the FCA on behalf of the Payment Systems Regulator Limited / the
Payment Systems Regulator Limited) reserves the right to monitor all email
communications for compliance with legal, regulatory and professional
standards.

This email is not intended to nor should it be taken to create any legal
relations or contractual relationships. This email has originated from the
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), or the Payment Systems Regulator
Limited.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is registered as a limited company
in England and Wales No. 1920623. Registered office: 25 The North
Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HS, United Kingdom

The Payment Systems Regulator Limited is registered as a limited company
in England and Wales No. 8970864. Registered office: 25 The North
Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HS, United Kingdom

Switchboard 020 7066 1000

Web Site http://www.fca.org.uk (FCA); http://www.psr.org.uk (the Payment
Systems Regulator Limited)

References

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