Thursday 10th June 2010

FSA forks out £638,500 for hospitality at Canary Wharf

Article published by Citywire

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) spent £638,500 last year on hospitality for meetings held at its office, a a Freedom of Information request has revealed. The regulator, which has come under pressure for increasing its 2010 budget 10% to £454.7 million, spent the money on tea, coffee and catering for events at its Canary Wharf offices in 2009, Citywire can reveal.

‘The FSA provides a hospitality service for meetings held at FSA premises. This can range from providing tea and coffee to hosting breakfast or lunch meetings, through to more formal dinners and catering for seminars,’ stated the regulator. ‘The FSA hosts thousands of such meetings a year, with a wide range of external guests.’

It refused to itemise its internal hospitality spending, saying that processing the information would cost more than £450. Previous requests for internal hospitality costs revealed £12,100 was spent on former chief executive John Tiner’s leaving party in July 2007. The FSA spent £40,230 on external hospitality during 2009 but could not break down the figures.

Last week FSA staff drew fire after it was revealed more than 200 people were paid more than Prime Minister David Cameron’s £142,500 salary. An information request by adviser portal cherryfind.co.uk showed before bonuses, 198 staff earn between £100,000 and £199,999 a year, a further 11 take home £200,000 to £299,999 and four earn more than £300,000. FSA chief executive Hector Sants gets £623,000 a year.

Recent Citywire information requests revealed the FSA spent £16 million on consultants last year, including tax advice for international staff. It also paid out £150,000 to staff who complained of bullying and has £163,000 worth of art in its offices.

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