The Financial Conduct Authority is facing tough questions over transparency, as Financial News can reveal that Freedom of Information Act requests from journalists are routinely passed to press officers and the chief executive’s office to mitigate reputational risk.

The Freedom of Information Act, which allows anyone to request information from public bodies and arms-length authorities like the FCA, is designed to be ‘applicant blind’ and ‘purpose blind’ – the identity of the requester and why they are interested in the information should be irrelevant to disclosure.