Serious bullying and harassment amount to misconduct in regulated financial services firms, according to a clarification published by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on July 1. The regulator announced that rules about reporting non-financial misconduct, currently applicable to banks in the U.K., will be extended to 37,000 more regulated firms starting September 1, 2026.
This is a significant development in the FCA’s ongoing campaign to make financial services firms more accountable for non-financial misconduct. This is a broad term, but in a survey conducted last autumn and published on October 25, 2024, the regulator specifically questioned firms about incidents of violence or intimidation, possession or use of illegal drugs, discrimination, bullying and sexual harassment, although it also enabled them to add further examples and these included misuse of expenses or gifts, alcoholic intoxication and data protection breaches. More than half of financial services employees have witnessed or experienced workplace misconduct.
