LONDON (Reuters) -A former senior Barclays banker who was acquitted of fraud charges in 2020 has lost an appeal in a London tribunal to overturn a decision by Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority that barred him from holding senior industry positions.
The FCA refused an application by investment group Saranac Partners to approve Tom Kalaris for chief executive and executive director roles in 2022, arguing it had reasonable grounds to believe he had failed to be open and cooperative in two interviews with the watchdog.
A spokesperson for the law firm representing Kalaris, who founded Saranac, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the tribunal’s ruling.
Saranac’s lawyers said at a hearing in July that Kalaris had been candid and truthful in the interviews under scrutiny, which covered the bank’s 2008 capital raising from Qatar and a report into the culture at Barclays Wealth America.
The Upper Tribunal in London, however, found that Kalaris – a former CEO of Barclays’ wealth arm – had given dishonest answers to the FCA and dismissed Saranac’s appeal in a ruling published on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for Saranac said: “We are disappointed by the findings of the Upper Tribunal but accept its decision.
“The matters at issue pre-date the establishment of Saranac Partners and are completely unrelated to the firm and its work. The tribunal made no criticism of Saranac Partners nor its activities,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Laura Dawes, director of authorisations at the FCA, said in a statement that the regulator welcomed the ruling.
“It is vital financial firms are led by those who are honest, transparent and who act with integrity,” Dawes said.
Saranac’s lawyer Ian Winter said at the tribunal hearing last month that Kalaris had “over 40 years of extremely high-level experience in financial services and nothing in all of those 40 years is said to give rise to any concern”.
Kalaris and two other former top Barclays bankers were cleared in 2020 of charges they helped funnel secret fees to Qatar in return for rescue financing in 2008.
The FCA separately announced in 2022 it would fine Barclays 50 million pounds ($66 million) over its Qatari fundraising, a decision the British bank is challenging at the Upper Tribunal in November.
Barclays declined to comment on Kalaris’ case on Tuesday. He left the British bank in June 2013.
($1 = 0.7572 pounds)
(Reporting by Sinead Cruise and Sam Tobin, editing by Susan Fenton and Alexander Smith)
