The FCA has published a web page effectively linking the House of Commons Treasury Committee’s ‘Sexism in the City’ report to its Consultation aimed at boosting diversity and inclusion in financial services. The page, not published alongside any other resource, appears almost to be some form of statement of policy.
The FCA acknowledges that there has been welcome progress on representation within financial services but warns that this has not been fast enough, and that there are pockets where no progress is discernible and significant cultural issues remain. As a result of this perceived lack of progress, the FCA shares the Committee’s view that there is an important role for regulators to play. The Committee and the FCA also share the view that change is needed, and have called on senior leadership of firms to take greater responsibility for delivering it.
There is clear evidence that diverse firms achieve better results, and both the FCA and the Treasury Committee believe that greater diversity and inclusion within the firms the FCA regulates can deliver improved internal governance, decision making and risk management.
The FCA’s starting point for its Consultation was that “what gets measured gets done”, and that transparent, comparable data would benefit firms, employees and the wider economy. This year, the FCA will prioritise proposals that tighten expectations on firms to tackle misconduct such as bullying and sexual harassment.
The FCA will also consider, amongst other Committee recommendations, how it engages with boards and other senior leaders on their firms’ culture, and will encourage those firms it regulates to adopt family friendly policies with equality impact assessments.