Page 86 - Bank Case Studies

Whistle Blowing

Barclays £3.9m-a-year chief executive, Jes Staley, had

however, been under investigation by regulators since April

2017 over the way he handled a whistleblowing incident
where he twice tried to uncover the identity of the

whistleblower who had written anonymously twice in 2016
to the bank’s board to make allegations accusing Staley of

covering up the personal problems of a friend, who had

been recently recruited to a senior position. “They also

raised questions over the appropriateness of the

recruitment process followed on this occasion by Barclays.”

(1)

Staley regarded the letters to be

“ an unfair personal attack on
the senior employee”. and tried

to identify the author, ordering

the bank’s security team to

investigate.” (2)

Staley said he had not been

aware of the fact that it was not permissible to identify the

author of the letters. Whistleblowers are protected and are

not allowed to be treated unfairly or lose their job for

reporting wrongdoing. (2)