“But I didn’t know it was illegal to pay bribes to obtain business!” Imagine how far that defense would get a corporate executive in the United States or the United Kingdom these days. Yet, according to reports, this is precisely the claim Barclays CEO James Staley used to excuse his conduct in trying to determine the name of an anonymous corporate whistleblower. The case has drawn regulatory scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic from national and state regulators.
