Bullying, harassment and discrimination were the most common workplace complaints at investment banks and brokers, according to new research from the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The regulator reported that its survey of over 1,000 investment firms, brokers and insurance firms found 26% of workplace misconduct allegations involved complaints of bullying and harassment, and 23% involved alleged discrimination.
The FCA also found that the volume of reported allegations increased between 2021 and 2023.
Yet, it cautioned this increase doesn’t necessarily reflect a rise in industry misconduct; the finding could reflect an increased willingness to report misconduct.
“[A] high number of complaints could be an indicator of a healthy culture in which people feel they can speak up, confident they will be listened to. A low reporting rate may indicate the opposite,” it said.
In about 43% of cases, firms took disciplinary action, or “other” actions, in response to complaints, the FCA noted. The remainder of cases were unsubstantiated, not investigated, or resulted in no disciplinary action.
Cases involving allegations of violence or intimidation were most likely to result in disciplinary action, the FCA found, while allegations of discrimination complaints had the highest incidence of resolution that involved a settlement of some type.
The most common mechanisms for reporting these kinds of complaints were through firms’ formal internal processes and from whistleblowers, the FCA said.
The regulator stressed that it was publishing the data on complaints to help firms assess whether their own reporting procedures are adequate.
“We want this data to support financial firms by providing their management teams and boards with an opportunity to consider if they stand out, and if so, why that might be,” said Sarah Pritchard, executive director of markets and international, in a release.
“The data require context and careful interpretation,” she said. “But in being transparent, we hope financial firms can benchmark themselves against their peers.”
In its report, the FCA also called on industry trade associations to use the data to help ensure firms have adequate processes for detecting and resolving misconduct complaints.
“Healthy workplace cultures are essential across all the markets we regulate — where non-financial misconduct is allowed to persist it can undermine trust and confidence, and create a culture where wrongdoing goes unchallenged, causing harm,” Pritchard said. “We are grateful to see a number of trade bodies engaging with these findings. We look forward to continuing to partner with them to continue to raise standards.”