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Get email updates from your favourite authors. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Sign In or Create an Account or The Financial Conduct Authority said it banned Joseph Molloy from working in any regulated financial services activity because his conviction “shows he lacks honesty and integrity” and he was not fit and proper to carry out such roles.
Molloy, who was head of passive equity at HSBC Asset Management until he retired last year, pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation this year after being caught using fake names and addresses to buy smart cards, which he used to dodge fares at least 740 times. Breaking business news, incisive views, must-reads and market signals. Weekdays by 9 a.m.
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The next issue of Posthaste will soon be in your inbox. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again The 53-year-old devised a “doughnutting” scheme to buy tickets for short trips at the start and end of the journey from his home in Orpington, south London, to HSBC’s office in Canary Wharf.
The scam meant he avoided paying for a “hole” in the middle of his commute. The former banker also obtained a Jobcentre Plus discount, for which only unemployed people or those seeking work are eligible, to get 50 per cent off ticket prices. The FCA’s lifetime ban for Molloy, who evaded £5,911 of fares, underlines the watchdog’s determination to crack down on examples of unethical conduct or dishonesty in the City of London.
Last month, it broadened its powers to tackle more types of non-financial misconduct such as harassment and bullying. The move mirrors a similar ban the FCA gave in 2014 to Jonathan Burrows, a former managing director at BlackRock Asset Management , who paid £43,000 to settle allegations of fare dodging over a period of several years. The FCA said on Thursday that Molloy had not exercised his right to challenge the ban and the former HSBC executive had “informed the authority that he accepts that he fell below the standards of behaviour expected by the authority.” In February, Molloy, who previously worked at State Street and Legal & General, was sentenced at Inner London Crown Court to 10 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.
He was prohibited from travelling on Southeastern rail for 12 months and ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work and 10 rehabilitation activity days. He was also ordered to pay £5,000 in compensation to Southeastern, costs of £150 and a victim surcharge of £187. At the sentencing hearing, the judge said Molloy had devised “a sophisticated and determined fraud” that had been “sophisticated, with considerable planning, conducted over a period of almost 12 months.” The judge said that although Molloy was “clearly in a financial position to pay the fares, you decided to evade them and that causes a loss to the whole of society.” However, the judge also took into account a number of mitigating factors, including that Molloy was experiencing difficult personal circumstances after his mother’s death, that he ceased the activity of his own volition and had shown genuine remorse.
Will Hanson, a barrister at Garden Court Chambers who represented Molloy, did not respond to a request for comment. HSBC declined to comment. © 2026 The Financial Times Ltd Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here .
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Source: Financial Post
