The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority has clarified that serious bullying, harassment and violence in the workplace qualify as misconduct at financial firms, behavior that could ultimately lead to a ban from the sector.
City firms reported a 72% surge in non-financial misconduct claims over the three years to October. That survey followed several high-profile scandals, including sexual-assault allegations made against hedge fund manager Crispin Odey and ex-Barclays’ boss Jes Staley’s ties to disgraced financier
The FCA, historically associated with taking down rogue traders and financial wrongdoing, is attempting to grapple with the scale of the problem. The body has previously been unclear on whether toxic behavior would amount to a conduct breach in firms other than banks.
“Cultural failings in firms” have meant that “bullying and harassment goes unchallenged,” Sarah Pritchard, the FCA’s deputy chief executive, said Wednesday.
The rules will be extended in September 2026 to around 37,000 regulated firms, the FCA said. Pritchard said the changes will “support the vast majority of firms that want to do the right thing to deepen trust in financial services.” There have been multiple delays in the verdict, with questions that the review may be scrapped entirely from the City.
The FCA published a review last year that detailed that little had changed in workplace culture despite pressure for firms to report poor behavior. Bullying and harassment were the most reported types of misconduct reported.
The new rules on non-financial misconduct “place a very significant burden on senior managers to take action in potentially nebulous circumstances in an era when cancel culture is rife,” Christine Braamskamp, a lawyer at Jenner & Block in London, said.
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