Denmead, Hampshire, England
Joined May 2015
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Transparency Task Force retweeted
𝐉𝐏 𝐀𝐔𝐁𝐈𝐍: 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐂𝐎-𝐂𝐄𝐎 𝐓𝐎 𝐄𝐗𝐄𝐂𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐄𝐑?
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BGC Group has announced that JP Aubin will step down as Co-CEO at the end of December and become Vice Chairman.
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That sounds rather like Hollywood. When a studio decides someone should stop directing the film, it can always make them an “executive producer”.
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A grander title. A nicer chair. Their name still in the credits. And, with any luck, a polite understanding that they won't ever be shouting “Action!” again.
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Perhaps BGC will throw in a clapperboard and a commemorative director's chair. Just keep it well away from the set.
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The joke ends there, because this announcement brings back serious conversations I had with Simon Andriesz.
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Simon described Aubin to me as a bully. He also told me that, in his view, when Aubin got into trouble over his conduct, he would be moved to another office until the smoke cleared.
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More seriously, Simon told me that Aubin had warned him that if he did not stop reporting misconduct at BGC, he would end up the same way his predecessor had.
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Those are accounts Simon gave me, not independent findings against Aubin. I think they deserve scrutiny, particularly given what Simon experienced as a whistleblower.
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The US CFTC imposed a $3 million penalty on BGC Financial, L.P. in 2019 for regulatory violations. That was a sanction against the firm, not a personal finding against Aubin.
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I have no evidence that this leadership change is connected to Simon's treatment. But I do have a question for readers.
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𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐥𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐳 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝?
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And if accountability is the film we're supposed to be watching, is changing the credit at the end really enough?
markets.ft.com/data/announce…
Transparency Task Force retweeted
RBS fraudulent conduct, failed redress and regulatory denial in Ireland
🔹Below are the heartbreaking words read yesterday by Andi Gibbs, a talented architect and entrepreneur whose career, business and personal life were devastated following his treatment by RBS Global Restructuring Group (GRG).
🔹His testimony exposes a scandal extending far beyond financial losses.
🔹In the UK, victims were subjected to years of inadequate reviews & redress processes, with serious concerns about independence, conflicts of interest & the influence of institutions with vested interests.
🔹For many, meaningful redress never materialised.
🔹In ☘️Ireland☘️, the position was arguably even more disturbing.
🔹Despite serious allegations concerning Ulster Bank, part of the same RBS Group, @centralbank_ie denied that an equivalent GRG scandal had occurred here.
🔹@MHCLawyers produced a report wrongfully clearing its own client, Ulster Bank, from wrongdoing. Manipulation of terms of reference, while on notice of the impact of the fraudulently sold swaps.
🔹Two jurisdictions. One banking group. Profound questions about regulatory accountability.
🔹How could victims obtain justice when the institutions responsible for investigating misconduct either controlled the redress process or disputed the existence of the underlying scandal?
🔹Behind these institutional failures are destroyed businesses, lost homes, shattered families and lives permanently altered.
🔹Andi Gibb’s words deserve to be heard. So do those of the countless victims still waiting for answers.
🔹The scandal is not simply what the banks did. It is also how the systems supposedly established to protect victims responded.
@Wftproof @ArturNadol7566 @TransparencyTF @JMcGuinnessTD @johnmcdonnellMP @kenoflynnTD @SimonHarrisTD @MichealMartinTD
Transparency Task Force retweeted
Ex-FCA supervisor Jasthi Alom: an FCA non-executive leading the Andriesz review repeats what MPs on the Treasury Committee condemned in 2014.
A board-led inquiry lacked credibility then. Why would it have it now?
@TheFCA
Ex-FCA supervisor warns FCA is repeating past mistakes
moneymarketing.co.uk/news/ex…
Transparency Task Force retweeted
BACK FROM PARLIAMENT
I have just come back from Parliament, from the APPG summit @appgonifandffs, and it was a great experience.
The summit was held in the memory of Simon Andriesz @SAndriesz. Here is a short clip of Simon speaking about his case at a @TransparencyTF Zoom meeting, before he took his own life. I want you to hear him in his own words.
It was a great experience to meet in person so many people I only knew by their nicknames. Now I know them by their real expressions. I felt so much humanity and so much willingness to stand up for what is right.
I heard many personal stories, especially from people who had only 60 seconds to present their case. There were plenty of emotions.
To everyone who had a 60 second speech, I personally invite you to send me your story. I will try to amplify it on X and on LinkedIn. Write to me here or there, and I will try to put your story in front of my network.
I have said many times that my account is your account. That is the real reason I am active on X and LinkedIn. I want people to be heard. The bigger my account becomes, the more people will hear our stories.
In my opinion, this is the only way to shake people in power. Public exposure is their only weakness. It is the one thing they cannot fabricate, and it is in our control.
For years, bad actors have managed the courts, judges, politicians, the press and the regulators. They do not worry about any of them. What they worry about is an independent account big enough that it cannot be buried. That is exactly how it worked, and how it will keep working, in the Simon Andriesz case.
Send me your case with a summary of 1 A4 page maximum and the core files, and I will amplify it as best I can. Just give me some time. As of now, I have around 25 cases waiting in my inbox.
Many things happened at the summit, and a few stayed with me and with my philosophy.
First, Lorraine Morris @MLorrM said we have to stick together and support each other.
It sounds simple, yet very few whistleblowers and victims remember it. People keep talking about their own cases and forget to support others at the same time. This is what I learned along the way. If you want to be helped, take time to help others in any way you can. It comes back to you, and people will support you. It is as simple as that. Thank you, Lorraine Morris, for saying it.
Second, Hester Bais @Wftproof said that in her work she spends more time supporting people on a human level than on a legal level. In my opinion, this connects to isolation, the biggest danger for whistleblowers and victims. Many are kept in isolation for years, and too often it ends with them taking their own lives. Thank you, Hester Bais.
Two more speeches stood out for me, from @Ron Warmington @WarmingtonRjw and John Robertson @J_Robertson_UK. I will write about them on another occasion.
To everyone who was there yesterday, a big thank you for standing up, not standing by.
Remember his name, Simon Andriesz.
@JohnCleese @stevemiddi1 @TransparencyTF @MeridianLegals @Victoria_Rixon @CompassnInCare @nw_nicholas @CastletonLee
Transparency Task Force retweeted
Ex-FCA supervisor warns FCA is repeating past mistakes
moneymarketing.co.uk/news/ex…
Ex-FCA supervisor warns FCA is repeating past mistakes
moneymarketing.co.uk/news/ex…
🗞️ The banker who blew the whistle and died 👇
thebanker.com/content/f16e27…
🗞️ FCA under fire over whistleblower treatments and regulatory trust 👇
fincrimecentral.com/fca-whis…
Transparency Task Force retweeted
🔹Today, I will be attending a summit held in memory of Simon Andriesz, whose courage in raising serious concerns about financial misconduct deserves recognition, respect & lasting accountability.
🔹I am honoured to be included in the accompanying report, drawing on my own experience as a whistleblower during Ireland’s parliamentary Inquiry into the Banking Crisis. Please review attachment for further details.
🔹Simon’s tragic death reinforces the urgent need for genuinely independent scrutiny of how financial regulators and other powerful institutions (including @OireachtasNews) treat those who expose wrongdoing.
🔹Whistleblowers are not the problem. The misconduct they expose, the victims left in its wake and the institutional failures that permit the wrongdoing to continue must remain the focus.
🔹I look forward to joining fellow whistleblowers, victims, campaigners and advocates in honouring Simon’s memory and strengthening our collective determination to secure truth, justice & accountability.
🔹I respectfully ask you to share this post to spread awareness. It is relevant to anyone who has borrowed, or intends to borrow, from a financial institution.
@Wftproof @WinkSabee @stevemiddi1 @BlowersIreland @JMcGuinnessTD @kenoflynnTD @Farrell_Mairead @MaryLouMcDonald @SamanthaLaDuc @johnmcdonnellMP @premnsikka @LSRAIreland @LawSocIreland @Muinchille @NiamhParker4 @SimonHarrisTD @MichealMartinTD @andyverity @jameshurley
🗞️ MP presses FCA over whistleblower review after Andriesz death 👇
moneymarketing.co.uk/news/mp…
Transparency Task Force retweeted
TOMORROW I GO TO UK PARLIAMENT
Tomorrow, 2 November, I will walk into the whistleblower summit of the @appgonifandffs on Investment Fraud and Fairer Financial Services.
I have 60 seconds to speak. The event asks why we must protect the wellbeing of whistleblowers. It is dedicated to the memory of Simon Andriesz @SAndriesz.
I wrote an eight-minute speech and practised it. Then came the message. So many people wanted to speak that we needed to share the time. My slot is now one minute.
Cutting eight minutes to 60 seconds was hard. But I understand. Every person in that room has a story that deserves to be heard.
For my minute, I chose Simon, who spent 35 years working in financial markets.
My own fight with @rsagroup Insurance, @IntactInsurance UK and the Financial Ombudsman Service @financialombuds gets its turn next time. On 2 November, it is about Simon and the disgraceful way @theFCA treated him.
In August, his friend John Robertson @J_Robertson_UK put us in touch. Simon contacted me and we spoke. I wrote about his case and published it on 12 August. It got some attention.
On 23 September, Simon took his own life.
Two days later, I posted about his death on X. That post received more than 700k views. On 4 October, Congressman @RepThomasMassie quoted it, bringing another 800k views. Newspapers picked up the story. It reached people around the world.
Then came the Financial Conduct Authority’s promise of a review. MPs called for an independent investigation. The first question at the FCA Annual Public Meeting was about Simon.
Simon had spent years trying to get the regulator, the courts and the press to listen. After his death, his story reached a worldwide audience. Then came the responses he had needed while he was alive.
That is a disgrace.
Tomorrow, we will talk about protecting whistleblowers’ wellbeing. That starts with how we respond when someone asks us to listen.
My inbox is full of messages from whistleblowers and people who have suffered wrongdoing. Behind each message is a person waiting for someone to take them seriously. A reply takes 2 minutes. For someone who has spent years being ignored, it can mean a lot.
If a whistleblower writes to you, answer them. Make time for the conversation while they are here to have it.
Tomorrow, I have 60 seconds. I will use them to ask people to remember Simon Andriesz, and to listen to those still asking for help.
If this moves you, share his name.
@stevemiddi1 @appgonifandffs @andyverity @jameshurley @MLorrM @Wftproof @JohnCleese @J_Robertson_UK @nw_nicholas @sharmilaxx @johncock_wayne @TransparencyTF
📢 FINAL REMINDER! Whistleblower Summit | UK Parliament | Monday 2nd November, 2pm–5pm
The APPG on Investment Fraud and Fairer Financial Services invites you register your interest for a complimentary place at a special event in Parliament on the vital role whistleblowers play in society, and the need to protect them from retaliation.
The summit is dedicated to the memory of whistleblower Simon Andriesz, who took his own life after reporting retaliation by his former employer. His case featured on BBC File on 4 Investigates.
Simon had pleaded with the FCA for help, explaining that he and his family “were in crisis.”
His death has led whistleblowers around the world to unite in condemning the regulator. As far as we know, this is the first time whistleblowers worldwide have spoken out together on behalf of a fellow whistleblower.
Baroness Kramer has also spoken about Simon’s death in the Lords, and the case has received widespread media coverage.
🤝 Show your support for whistleblowers by attending.
👉 Register your interest for a free place: lnkd.in/esfJ9FyN
🎧 BBC File on 4: lnkd.in/e4Nk_K3A
📰 Press coverage: lnkd.in/eqjprZHb
#Whistleblowers #WhistleblowerProtection #UKParliament #FCA #APPGIFFFS #SimonAndriesz
MP presses FCA over whistleblower review after Andriesz death:
moneymarketing.co.uk/news/mp…
@johnmcdonnellMP
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.'
⏰ Reminder: The APPG on Investment Fraud and Fairer Financial Services whistleblower summit takes place in UK Parliament this Monday 2nd November, 2pm-5pm.
Whistleblowers keep our financial system honest, and they deserve protection, not retaliation. Please show your support by attending.
Register your interest for a free place:
forms.gle/BuSTVnk1WvEapwax9
#Whistleblowers #UKParliament
📢 Join us in UK Parliament on Monday 2nd November, 2pm-5pm, for a summit on the vital role whistleblowers play in society and why they must be protected from retaliation.
Hosted by the APPG on Investment Fraud and Fairer Financial Services. Places are complimentary.
👉 Register your interest for a place here:
forms.gle/V2rBhx2CzACY9ybr5
#Whistleblowers #UKParliament #WhistleblowerProtection
📢 Whistleblower Summit | UK Parliament | Monday 2nd November, 2pm–5pm
The APPG on Investment Fraud and Fairer Financial Services invites you to register your interest for a complimentary place at a special event in Parliament on the vital role whistleblowers play in society, and the need to protect them from retaliation.
The summit is dedicated to the memory of whistleblower Simon Andriesz, who took his own life after reporting retaliation by his former employer. His case featured on BBC File on 4 Investigates.
Simon had pleaded with the FCA for help, explaining that he and his family “were in crisis.”
His death has led whistleblowers around the world to unite in condemning the regulator. As far as we know, this is the first time whistleblowers worldwide have spoken out together on behalf of a fellow whistleblower.
Baroness Kramer has also spoken about Simon’s death in the Lords, and the case has received widespread media coverage.
🤝 Show your support for whistleblowers by attending.
👉 Register your interest for a free place: forms.gle/Y2wBQkc9TJhBGfxs9
🎧 BBC File on 4: bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002yx4…
📰 Press coverage: appgifffs.org/in-the-press
#Whistleblowers #WhistleblowerProtection #UKParliament #FCA #APPGIFFFS #SimonAndriesz
@appgonifandffs @WhistleUK @VigjilencaAbazi @CompassnInCare @psst_org @susanpjhawley @TransparencyUK @SafecallGB @stevemiddi1 @Carlier_J87 @johnmcdonnellMP @natalieben @J_Robertson_UK @MLorrM @Wftproof @WarmingtonRjw @ArturNadol7566 @IanByrneMP @SueFlood52