Regulators push for greater diversity in financial services staff

Diversity and inclusion are regulatory issues, the Financial Conduct Authority has affirmed, and will be “mainstreamed” into all its processes. Neasa MacErlean explores why diversity is important for financial services firms and what’s coming down the pipeline.

Having a diverse and inclusive culture is going to become an enforceable requirement on firms that are regulated by the FCA. The new CEO Nikhil Rathi made that clear in his third speech [1] after his arrival when he said, in March 2021: “We care because diversity reduces conduct risk and those firms that fail to reflect society run the risk of poorly serving diverse communities. And, at that point, diversity and inclusion become regulatory issues.”