Tim Ashton

I’m pleased to share with you some important correspondence sent to @TheFCA CEO Nikhil Rathi by @johnmcdonnellMP in his capacity as Chair of the @appgonifandffs. The correspondence was in the form of an open letter, hence our being able to share it with you. The letter is necessarily detailed and long, but a fair summary would be as follows: The letter challenges the FCA’s handling of whistleblowers and calls for greater independence, transparency and accountability following the death by suicide of whistleblower Simon Andriesz. There are three important topics covered: 1. Independence and scope of the Paterson Review John McDonnell MP questions the appointment of FCA Non-Executive Director Lea Paterson to review the FCA’s handling of Simon Andriesz’s case. He argues that Nikhil Rathi’s evidence to the Treasury Committee on 13th October was contradictory and failed to unambiguously establish whether the review is confined to the FCA’s communications with Mr. Andriesz or extends to wider whistleblowing practices. He requests clear, published terms of reference, clarification of who controls the review’s scope and reconsideration of appointing an independent external reviewer. He also seeks confirmation that the report will be published in full with only redactions as necessary. 2. FCA participation in the APPG’s summit about protecting whistleblowers from retaliation John McDonnell MP criticises the FCA’s decision not to provide an executive-level participant at the APPG whistleblowing summit on Monday 2nd November, offering only an observer. He argues that discussing general principles of whistleblower protection would not compromise the Paterson Review and urges the FCA to participate meaningfully and engage directly with whistleblowers. By not doing so the FCA misses a unique opportunity to learn through engagement; not a good look when the FCA is undertaking a lessons-learned review. 3. Independent survey of whistleblowers The letter strongly challenges the credibility of the FCA’s 2022 whistleblower survey, which received only 21 complete responses from 68 selected individuals, out of 1,041 reports received during the relevant period. FOI disclosures show the exercise was conducted in a purposive and seemingly contrived manner. For example, only cases selected by the FCA’s whistleblowing case handlers were included. John McDonnell MP calls for an independently administered survey of every individual who has contacted the FCA about whistleblowing since January 2022, with the methodology, questionnaire and results published. The letter calls for substantive answers to important questions covering whistleblower protection, regulatory responsibilities and historical FCA practices. It requests an urgent response on summit attendance and a comprehensive reply to the other issues raised within 14 days, emphasising that credible scrutiny, demonstrable accountability and a culture of openness are essential to restoring confidence in the FCA. The full open letter is available for you here: appgifffs.org/wp-content/upl… We believe this is a legitimate and necessary challenge of @TheFCA's handling of whistleblowers, particularly following the death by suicide of whistleblower @SAndriesz. And note that there have been serious concerns in Parliament and in particular by @CommonsTreasury about how @TheFCA deals with whistleblowers going back to at least 2016 - see here, by Lord Tyrie when he was Chair of @CommonsTreasury. Also if you would like to express interest in taking one of the few remaining complimentary places available at the APPG summit in Parliament on Monday 2nd November, which is all about protecting whistleblowers from retaliation and dedicated to the memory of @SAndriesz, please see here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F… Thank you for taking time to read what we believe to be an important message; we hope you agree. Please share your thoughts and repost as you wish - we need to get this message 'out there.'