City watchdog sacked 12 for misconduct amid crackdown on firms
The Financial Conduct Authority sacked 12 workers as a result of misconduct allegations, Morning Wire can reveal.
Official figures show nearly 40 members of staff were formally disciplined by the City watchdog between 2022 and 2024 due to misconduct.
A dozen of these were dismissed from their post with 10 handed a “final written warning”. The remaining sixteen were given their “first written warning”.
It comes as the regulator said it would clamp down on non-financial misconduct in financial services.
In a foreword to the FCA’s consultation paper on the changes to misconduct rules, Sarah Pritchard, deputy chief executive of the watchdog, said: “Failure to tackle toxic behaviours drives away good people, prevents staff from speaking up and undermines performance. It damages growth and enables financial misconduct.”
The consultation aims to “drive consistency across the financial sector” and “make it clearer when non-financial misconduct can be a breach of our rules”.
Jason Kurtz, chief executive of software firm Baware, said: “Organisations tasked with upholding industry standards cannot afford to compromise when it comes to dealing with incidents of misconduct.
“With rising levels of financial crime, fraud, and risks, enforcing the highest standards of compliance is now a top priority, for watchdogs and businesses alike.”
FCA faces push back on misconduct regulation
The financial watchdog scrapped plans to impose diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) targets on City institutions earlier this year.
The FCA, along with the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), said in light of the “broad range” of feedback and “expected legislative developments” from the government, they would abort their push to regulate DEI.
The move was welcomed across the City following fears it would have piled “unwarranted costs” onto firms.
At the time, the FCA accompanied the announcement by saying it would pause plans to regulate non-financial misconduct.
But the regulator later launched a paper in July outlining ambitions to tackle non-financial misconduct, with the consultation period set to close in September.
Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith described the new rules as “grade A mission creep”.
The Tory MP said the changes were a “perfect example of the unintended consequences of having too many well paid, deeply ‘woke’, public sector regulators making work for themselves”.