No cases have been opened, closed or resulted in either no action or any form of enforcement action whatsoever on non-financial misconduct, the FOI request revealed. Credit: Shutterstock
A total of zero non-financial misconduct cases have been opened, closed or resulted in enforcement action by the Financial Conduct Authority since January 2023, Investment Week can reveal.
According to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request sent by Investment Week to the regulator, there have been no active cases on the matter between January 2023 and March 2025.
No cases have been opened, closed or resulted in either no action or any form of enforcement action whatsoever on non-financial misconduct, the FOI request found.
FCA bans Crispin Odey from UK financial services industry
The response followed steps taken by the FCA back in 2023 to target non-financial misconduct in the industry, after the high-profile scandal involving disgraced hedge fund manager Crispin Odey, who was accused of sexual misconduct by dozens of women going back decades.
Last month, Odey and his eponymous firm were fined £1.8m and banned by the FCA, but the enforcement action was not based on such allegations, but rather on the ex-manager "frustrating Odey Asset Management's (OAM) disciplinary processes into his conduct to protect his own interests", the watchdog's notice stated.
This included Odey's use of his majority shareholding to remove OAM's existing executive committee members and appoint himself as its sole member after a disciplinary hearing was scheduled in 2021 over his alleged inappropriate behaviour.
Bev Shah, co-CEO of City hive, told Investment Week that even though the regulator is undertaking a review into how it approaches non-financial misconduct, its own survey results in 2024, "indicated concerns with regards to the increase in allegations of non-financial misconduct and the expectation that they would be taking more robust actions, including those related to remuneration".
Such actions, at least according to the FOI response, are yet to take place.
Number of non-financial misconduct reports in the City skyrockets in three years
The FCA's survey from last year found that around 2,500 non-financial misconduct incidents were reported between 2021 and 2023, with the vast majority having taken place at small- and medium-sized firms.
Discrimination, bullying and harassment were the most reported incidents alongside the ‘other' category. At the time (February 2024), around half of all reported cases were awaiting decision or had no disciplinary action taken, with the other half having resulted in disciplinary or other action.
Among the two, discrimination and bullying and harassment were the two misconduct categories with the highest percentage of either awaiting decision or no disciplinary action taken (76% and 65%, respectively).
By contrast, violence or intimidation and sexual harassment saw the highest percentage of disciplinary or other action taken (73% and 64%, respectively).
Shah continued: "In addition to the damage that individuals can cause through non-financial misconduct, the lack of judgement that it displays means a high risk to the firm that employs that individual.
"This is both in internal matters such as talent retention and externally in how they deliver client services, how they safeguard vulnerable customers and their wider reputation in the market."
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Reboot advisory board member Mary O'Connor echoed Shah's frustration by telling IW it was "disappointing to see a lack of proactive steps by the FCA to tackle non-financial misconduct".
Last year, the Treasury Committee's report into Sexism in the City made clear that there is "widespread bullying and sexual harassment in the financial services industry," she continued.
"I would like to the see the FCA finalise its proposals and, where appropriate, initiate investigations to make absolutely clear that such behaviour will not be tolerated.
"This would protect boards and companies that are already taking reasonable steps to prevent and respond to instances of non-financial misconduct, and put those that are not on notice that things must change," O'Connor added.
The FCA's FOI response came shortly after the regulator decided to pause its plans to introduce diversity and inclusion (D&I) rules for regulated firms last month, citing concerns over the potential additional burdens placed on businesses and the overlap with existing regulation.
