Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) has been fined US$15mln by US authorities over attempts by chief executive Jes Staley and senior management to unmask a whistleblower two years ago.
The New York state department of financial services said its investigation found Staley told the bank’s head of security to identify the author of two whistleblowing letters in order to protect a senior executive, who was a friend and former colleague at JP Morgan, from unwanted publicity.
READ: Barclays boss Jes Staley fined £642,430 for trying to unmask whistleblower
Other members of senior management were accused of failing to follow or apply appropriate whistleblowing policies and procedures.
The regulator said the bank had “shortcomings in governance, controls and corporate culture relating to Barclays’ whistleblowing function”.
“Whistleblowers are vital to uncovering and addressing intentional wrongdoing,” said Maria Vullo, New York department of financial services superintendent.
“DFS’s thorough investigation uncovered actions at the top that exposed the bank to risk and created an atmosphere in which employees might doubt that it was safe to escalate issues of concern to the bank.”
Barclays said it has agreed to the fine and would undertake additional reporting and remediation undertakings in respect of its whistleblowing programme.
The fine and ruling end the final investigation over the issue.
In May, the UK’s financial watchdogs fined Staley £642,430 for “failing to act with due skill, care and diligence” over the anonymous letter.
Staley has previously apologised to employees for his actions and vowed to oversee an independent and effective whistleblowing function.