On Monday Britain’s financial regulator banned a senior financial services professional from the industry for life. His transgression was the failure to pay his train fare. BlackRock director Jonathan Paul Burrows was caught by inspectors at Cannon Street station last year.
Mr Burrows has admitted that, on a number of occasions, he deliberately and knowingly failed to purchase a valid ticket to cover his entire journey whilst traveling on he Southeastern train service between Stonegate Railway Station, East Sussex, and Cannon Street Station, London.
Based on Mr Burrows’ admission, the Authority considers that Mr Burrows is not fit and proper to conduct any function in relation to any regulated activity carried on by any authorised or exempt persons … because he lacks honesty and integrity.
That means his has failed to meet the FCA’s Fit and Proper Test for Approved Persons.
The fare he failed to pay was £21.50. That’s an expensive train ticket. Mr. Burrows avoided paying the fare by boarding the London-bound train at Stonegate, a rural station with no turnstiles. Without the turnstiles, there is no control to make sure passengers have a ticket.
But it was not just the one time. He was alleged to have failed to pay for his ticket on almost 2,000 occasions. He settled with the transit authority for £42,550.
Sources:
- In London, a Fund Manager Pays a Steep Price for His Train Ticket by Simon Clark in the Wall Street Journal
- Fare-dodging banker banned from City by Joe Miller for BBC
- FCA Final Notice 2014: Jonathan Paul Burrows
- FCA’s Fit and Proper Test for Approved Persons
- Fund Manager in London Who Dodged Train Fares Is Barred From Financial Jobs by Jenny Anderson in NY Times.com’s DealBook
Stonegate Railway Station photograph is by Simon Carey
