The FCA said today that it would step up its efforts to tackle misconduct such as bullying and sexual harassment at regulated firms.
It’s pledge follows the House of Commons Treasury Committee’s recent ‘Sexism in the City’ report and coincides with International Women’s Day.
In a statement today the watchdog said it would “prioritise” proposals to tackle misconduct and shared much of the Committee’s concerns.
The FCA said: “This year, we will prioritise proposals that tighten expectations on firms to tackle misconduct such as bullying and sexual harassment. We will also consider the Committee’s recommendations on whistleblowing and the use of non-disclosure agreements, building on our existing work.”
The Treasury Select Committee’s report said there had been “welcome progress” on representation within financial services but this has not been fast enough and there were “pockets” where no progress was discernible and significant issues remain.
The FCA said it shared the Committee’s view that there was an important role for regulators to play in tackling misconduct.
The regulator said it continued to believe that greater diversity and inclusion at regulated firms can deliver “improved internal governance, decision making and risk management.”
The Treasury Committee has called on boards and senior leadership of firms to take greater responsibility for delivering improvements.
The FCA said that after extensive discussion it took the view that comparable data would benefit firms, employees and the wider economy. The FCA said it believed firms should set their own diversity and inclusion strategy and collect, report and disclose data.
The Treasury Committee has asked the FCA to consider how its engages with boards and other senior leaders on their firms’ culture and encourages regulated firms to adopt family friendly policies with equality impact assessments. The FCA said it would consider these, and other, recommendations carefully.
