Confidentiality Of FSA Interview Transcripts And Warning Notices

The Court of Appeal¹ has examined the extent to which FSA interview transcripts and other material gathered during the course of an FSA investigation is confidential to interviewees and their employers. The decision highlights risks for firms involved in FSA investigation/enforcement processes where they may be facing overlapping civil claims.

The Court has ruled that the s348 Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 does not prohibit a company from disclosing transcripts of FSA interviews with its former or current employees in so far as the transcripts contain information already and independently known to the company.

In the past firms and individuals caught up in FSA investigations may have simply assumed that transcripts of compulsory FSA interviews and indeed any warning notices were confidential in their hands under FSMA. Understandably, given the criminal sanctions which apply to a breach of s348, firms have generally taken a careful approach to the disclosure