FCA to extend non-financial misconduct rules beyond banking

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is set to broaden its rules covering non-financial misconduct, such as bullying and discrimination, beyond the banking industry.

This move aims to address concerns about poor practices at financial firms, which have risen on the regulatory agenda in recent years, reported Reuters.

According to the FCA, this initiative seeks to increase consistency and enhance trust in financial services.

Reports of bullying, discrimination, and other non-financial misconduct in Britain's finance industry surged by nearly 60% over three years to 2023, as per a study of FCA.

FCA's deputy chief executive Sarah Pritchard said: “Too often when we see problems in the market, there are cultural failings in firms. Behaviour like bullying or harassment going unchallenged is one of the reddest flags – a culture where this occurs can raise questions about a firm's decision making and risk management.

"Our new rules will help drive consistency across industry and support the vast majority of firms that want to do the right thing to deepen trust in financial services.”

FCA will now oversee how finance firms tackle "serious, substantiated cases of poor personal behaviour".

Information on these cases must be shared similarly to financial misconduct, making it harder for individuals to escape consequences by moving between firms, according to the UK watchdog.

From 1 September 2026, around 37,000 regulated firms, including hedge funds, asset managers, and consumer credit firms, will be subject to these proposed rules.

Last year's FCA survey revealed that over one third of firms did not report such cases to their boards, with many lacking appropriate governance structures to handle incidents.

Anu Chhabra, founder of the Women in Finance Group, noted that toxic cultures like bullying and discrimination often correlate with risky financial behaviour, damaging reputations and investor confidence, reported the media outlet.

Some legal experts reportedly believe the new rules may not represent a significant shift. Lorraine Johnston, a partner at Ashurst, stated that while the FCA has clarified the conduct rules, the technical adjustments may not substantially impact firms, except in the most contentious cases.

The final rules are subject to consultation until 10 September.

"FCA to extend non-financial misconduct rules beyond banking" was originally created and published by Private Banker International, a GlobalData owned brand.

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