Gone to Pottage

In a serious blow for the regulator’s attempts to pin responsibility for compliance breaches on senior figures at large firms, former UBS head of wealth management John Pottage has triumphed at the Upper Tribunal. This seems an odd fight for the FSA to have picked, comments Steven Francis.

Steven Francis is a partner in the regulatory and business crime group at RPC (Reynolds Porter Chamberlain) and may be contacted at steven.francis@rpc.co.uk.

The long awaited decision in John Pottage v the FSA is a reminder of the liability test that applies when an assessment needs to be made of whether an individual has committed misconduct for the purposes of section 66 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The Tribunal found in favour of Mr Pottage, deciding that he had conducted himself reasonably. As well as looking at the facts and decision we consider here whether it represents justice or imposes too great a burden on the FSA.