On 19 December 2018, the FCA published a speech by Christopher Woolard (Executive Director of Strategy and Competition, FCA), Opening up and speaking out: diversity in financial services and the challenge to be met.

One of the key messages in the speech is that how a firm approaches diversity and inclusion tells the FCA a lot about its culture. And the way firms handle non-financial misconduct, including allegations of sexual misconduct, is potentially relevant to the FCA’s assessment of that firm, in the same way that the firm handles insider dealing, market manipulation or any other misconduct. The FCA’s message to firms is clear: non-financial misconduct is misconduct, plain and simple.