Simon Culhane, chief executive of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment, accused the UK regulator of lacking integrity and “playing to the court of mob rule” when it banned Jonathon Paul Burrows from “performing any function in relation to any regulated activities” in December.
“His actions had no effect on either the financial system, the market, nor any direct effect or influence on clients or counterparties,” he said of Burrows, who admitted to regularly evading fares for five years by paying the maximum £7.20 fare on his Oyster travel card rather than the full £21.50 value of his journey.
“A period of suspension from working in the financial services sector would have been a more proportion sanction,” he added. “Normal legal convention discounts any penalty if the individual owns up and cooperates, which Mr Burrows did. In these cases the FCA normally applies a 30% reduction, so what happened here?”
Culhane went on to describe the fine as “more draconian” than those handed to interest-rate fixers and accused the regulator of lacking integrity for bowing to the demands of the press who he described as “baying for blood” over the case.
“[The case] marks the first time that the UK central regulator has taken action against an individual solely on account of that person’s behaviour in their personal life,” he added.
Burrows was stopped by a Revenue Protection Officer at the exit gates of London Cannon Street in November last year, where he was found to have failed to purchase a valid ticket for his journey from Stonegate railway station in East Sussex.
He was suspended from his role at BlackRock Asset Management Investor Services when the fines were first revealed, and later quit his role completely.
Upon facing his lifetime ban, he said that, while he regretted his actions, the size of his fine could lead to a “distorted perception” of the scale of his wrong-doing.
“I recognise that the FCA has on its plate more profound wrong-doing 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,” he said.
