Banking Crisis
Regulator Bans Former BlackRock Executive From City After Massive Rail Fare-Dodging Saga

Fare dodger Jonathan Burrows has been struck off by the UK financial services watchdog for not "being fit and proper".
Fare dodger Jonathan Burrows has been struck off by the UK
financial services watchdog for not "being fit and proper".
His ban from the City comes after the former BlackRock
executive paid back £43,000 ($67,355) in dodged rail fares. He
left his £1 million-a-year job as a managing director of
BlackRock Asset Management Investor Services earlier in 2014 when
the behaviour was uncovered.
His fare dodging took place over five years by boarding the
London-bound train from Stonegate, a rural station with no
barriers in East Sussex, without buying a ticket, before "tapping
out" using an Oyster card at Cannon Street.
It meant he paid a £7.20 maximum Oyster fare rather than paying
for a £21.50 train ticket for the one-hour 22-minute journey.
"Burrows held a senior position within the financial services
industry. His actions fell short of the standards we expect.
Approved persons must act with honesty and integrity at all times
and, where they do not, we will take action." said Tracey
McDermott, FCA director of
enforcement and financial crime.
Burrows said he had always recognised that what he did was
foolish.
"While I respect the FCA's decision today, I also regret it,
coming as it did after a 20-year career in the City that was
without blemish," Burrows said.
(Editor's note. While the behaviour here is wrong, it seems odd that the regulator should feel obliged to get involved in such a matter, given the far more serious issues that should be taking up its time. Would it be correct, for example, for the FCA to slap a life ban on a person from working in financial services for accumulating parking fines or some other sort of financial malfeasance? Maybe what the regulator objected to here is that this is a clear, and extensive, story of financial misconduct that is not compatible with holding a senior role in financial services where probity is required. It also, it should be noted, shows how expensive rail commuting in the UK now is.)