All firms to report non-financial misconduct on references from late 2026

Regulatory employment references will include "substantiated" cases of bullying, harassment and violence across the industry from September next year - the date when the FCA extends its non-financial misconduct rules from the banks across the whole regulated sector.

By Neasa MacErlean

The Financial Conduct Authority sees a correlation between poor personal behaviour and mainstream risk-handling as well as other issues. When announcing these plans, Sarah Pritchard, deputy chief executive, said: "Too often when we see problems in the market, there are cultural failings in firms. Behaviour like bullying or harassment going unchallenged is one of the reddest flags - a culture where this occurs can raise questions about a firm's decision-making and risk management." Impetus to strengthen this part of its rules also came from respondents to its previous diversity and inclusion consultation in 2023 when the "overwhelming majority of those who responded... asked us to strengthen our existing rule set."