Fare-dodging former Blackrock managing director Jonathan Burrows banned by FCA

Blackrock managing director and serial train fare-dodger Jonathan Burrows has been banned from performing “any function in relation to any regulated activities” by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). 

 

The City watchdog said Burrows, who hit the news this summer when he was revealed as the executive who racked up £43,000 in unpaid train fares over five years, was not “fit and proper” to work in the industry. Burrows resigned from Blackrock in August. 

 

Tracey McDermott, director of enforcement and financial crime at the FCA, said: “Burrows held a senior position within the financial services industry. His conduct 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.”

 

Burrows was stopped last November at the exit gates of London Cannon Street station, and was found to have failed to purchase a valid ticket for the entire journey while travelling on the Southeastern train service from Stonegate railway station, East Sussex. 

 

His tactic – which later earned him the moniker the Artful Dodger – meant that instead of spending £21.50 per ticket, he was paying a maximum fare of £7.20. 

 

The FCA said he had admitted to the body that he had evaded his train fare “on a number of occasions, and had done so in the knowledge that he had been breaking the law”. 

“The FCA does not consider that this is fit and proper behaviour for an approved person,” it added. 

 

Burrows also admitted in interview that he did not disclose his behaviour to his employer. Although the FCA is not penalising Burrows for not informing his employe, it has taken this into account, among other things, in deciding what action to take.