Post Macris, Alan Ward predicts a significant change in how regulatory enforcement in the City is conducted & publicised
Anyone with even a passing interest in financial services and the City will be aware of the $5.7bn (£3.7bn) in regulatory and criminal penalties levied against major banks last month, following the global foreign exchange (FX) investigation.
Many newspaper headlines papers asked the question: “Why aren’t these crooked bankers in jail?” But a better question might be: have any of the five UK and US regulators involved in the settlements even thought to ask the traders vilified in the headlines what they think about it all?
The informed observer might assume that the agencies that conducted these high-profile investigations would, at some point, have asked the allegedly culpable individuals for their explanation. However, a Court of Appeal judgment handed down the day before the FX settlements were announced has highlighted (and directed criticism at), the manner in which the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) attributes blame to identifiable individuals in regulatory notices, without first giving those
