Story perspectives

FCA Bars HSBC Executive Joseph Molloy for Doughnutting Scheme

By Drooid · Oct 2, 2026, 10:04 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

The Financial Conduct Authority barred former HSBC executive Joseph Molloy from all regulated financial services.
Molloy used a “doughnutting” scheme, buying tickets only for the start and end of each journey.
The scheme was used 740 times, avoiding £5,911 in fares.
In February, a court gave him a 10-month prison term, suspended for 18 months.
He also received a 12-month rail ban, 80 hours unpaid work and £5,000 compensation.

History

Historical Context

The collapse of Enron in December 2001, when its $63.4 billion of assets vanished in the largest U.S. bankruptcy at the time, spurred congressional hearings that produced the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on July 30 2002. That law created stricter audit oversight and hefty compliance costs, a regulatory trajectory that today sees the UK’s FCA in 2024 bar HSBC’s former executive Joseph Molloy for a massive fare-evading scheme.

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Story summary

The Financial Conduct Authority barred former HSBC executive Joseph Molloy from all regulated financial services.
Molloy used a “doughnutting” scheme, buying tickets only for the start and end of each journey.
The scheme was used 740 times, avoiding £5,911 in fares.
In February, a court gave him a 10-month prison term, suspended for 18 months.
He also received a 12-month rail ban, 80 hours unpaid work and £5,000 compensation.

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