The Parliamentary Committee looking into “Sexism in the City” has published 46 pieces of written evidence it received. The evidence from FCA highlighted:
- more diverse and inclusive firms can support better outcomes for themselves and their customers and are less likely to experience groupthink than less diverse firms – and groupthink can in turn lead to weak governance and risk management and a failure to act in customers’ best interests;
- evidence suggests that recruitment and promotion within the financial services industry is not yet based entirely on talent;
- culture is also critical; and
- there is evidence that ethnicity impacts on women’s experience in the industry.
The response included statistics and research on:
- removing barriers to women entering and progressing their careers across the industry;
- the impact of the Women in Finance Charter and other governmental and regulatory initiatives;
- FCA’s progress in implementing the Treasury Committee’s 2018 recommendations for its own leadership and staff;
- progress on removing gender pay gaps;
- government and regulator roles in acting as role models, ensuring appropriate data is collected and published and ensuring appropriate cultures to support women’s aspiration and progress; and
- the role of firms, Government and regulators in combatting sexual harassment and mysogeny.