Tribunal backs FCA on Saranac/Kalaris decision

The Upper Tribunal has made its decision on the reference to it by Saranac Partners Limited in respect of the FCA’s decision not to approve its application for Thomas Kalaris to be its CEO and an executive director. The FCA decision was based on responses Mr Kalaris had given in interviews with it in 2013 and 2014 in relation to, respectively, a capital raising exercise for Barclays and a report for Barclays. The Tribunal had already agreed with the FCA’s assessment in relation to the first interview, that Mr Kalaris had not been candid in his answers to three of the questions and the one of his answers was dishonest. The FCA had also decided that certain of Mr Kalaris’ answers in the second interview was false and/or misleading. The Tribunal now also concluded that he had acted dishonestly during that interview. While it did find some further evidence, that the FCA had not taken into account, and which were favourable to Mr Kalaris, it felt that these were significantly outweighed by other factors and that, if the matter were remitted to the FCA, it would inevitably still conclude that Mr Kalaris was not fit and proper. As a result, it dismissed the reference.