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By Kirstin Ridley
LONDON, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Britain's markets regulator isseeking to ban a former Barclays executive from holdingsenior financial services jobs, alleging he recklessly mademisleading statements about a critical 2012 report into theculture of a U.S. division unit.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) alleged Andrew Tinney,the former global chief operating officer of Barclays' wealthand investment management division, did not circulate a reportfrom consultants, which said the bank's U.S. wealth unit had a"high risk" culture that was "actively hostile to compliance".
Tinney, who was suspended in late 2012 before resigning thefollowing year, denies the allegations and has referred the FCAdecision to the Upper Tribunal, a body that hears challenges toregulatory notices.
"I do not accept that any of my actions can be construed asmisconduct and ... I look forward to finishing the job ofclearing my good name in the Upper Tribunal," he said in anemailed statement on Wednesday.
The dispute hinges on how Tinney described a culture auditof the Barclays Wealth Americas (BWA) unit and whether he shouldhave brought it to the attention of the bank's management andthe Federal Reserve Bank of New York as Barclays battled torestore public trust in the wake of the Libor scandal in 2012.
"REVENUE AT ALL COSTS"
The FCA said Tinney was appointed chairman of a steeringcommittee in early 2012, which was tasked with overseeing aprogramme to rectify "regulatory deficiencies" at BWA.
Tinney hired a consultancy to examine the culture at BWA,which produced a 29-page report that it delivered to Tinney'shome address in March, 2012.
The FCA said the report included statements and quotes frominterviews of employees who were "highly critical" of somesenior BWA managers and expressed an opinion that BWA pursued acourse of "revenue at all costs". Tinney was not mentioned.
After discussing its contents with his manager, the FCAalleged Tinney ensured the report would not be seen or madeavailable to others, did not add it to company records and toldthe consultancy it did not need to circulate a copy.
But in September 2012, three months after the bank was fined$453 million for Libor interest rate rigging and had launched anindependent review of business practices, a whistlebloweranonymously emailed the firm's chairman to allege that a "wealthcultural audit report" had been suppressed.
The FCA alleged Tinney was reckless when contributing to adraft note about the email because he did not mention thereport. At one stage, he had added the words: "There has neverbeen a 'Wealth Cultural Audit Report' produced at any time".
He also initially failed to mention the report afterBarclays received a request from the New York Federal Reservefor a copy of the BWA "cultural audit", according to the FCA.
The FCA conceded Tinney had put in place briefings and aworkshop to address criticisms in the report. But it said he"recklessly made misleading statements and omissions" tocolleagues about the report's nature and existence and that helacked integrity.
In Tinney's response, attached to the allegations outlinedin the public statement, he alleged that the report he hadcommissioned contained identifiable quotes from staff, whichcarried a litigation risk, that he had no motive to conceal thereport and did not think either the anonymous email or the NewYork Fed were referring to that report.
The regulator is not seeking to fine Tinney, partly becausehe did not personally profit from his alleged misconduct, hisactions did not cause a loss to customers or investors and theperiod over which the events unfolded was brief.
($1 = 0.7578 pounds) (Reporting by Kirstin Ridley, editing by Anjuli Davies andLouise Heavens)
