Context
The FCA has published a speech (the second this week in relation to firms’ culture) by Emily Shepperd, FCA Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director of Authorisations, at City & Financial’s Culture and Conduct Forum held on 23 November.
Key points to note
The highlights of the speech were:
- As firms look to raise the bar under the Consumer Duty, they need to consider how their own culture can help to drive better outcomes.
- New, flexible proposals on D&I will help firms to drive changes that are ultimately beneficial, but it’s important that the purpose of this is understood and that the right policies and procedures are in place to ensure an inclusive culture with the right incentives.
- Enabling people to contribute, challenge and add value means listening, looking at processes and making changes to ensure people can perform at their best.
The speech addresses how to build a healthy culture, and makes the point (also made in the earlier speech by Sheree Howard) that one place to start is diversity and inclusion, particularly the ‘inclusion’ aspect. The speech references other recent DE&I work carried out by the FCA.
The speech goes on to address culture and conduct in the context of building an inclusive environment, putting customers at the centre, reducing costs and adding value, finding opportunities from new technology, and finishes with a summary of what conduct means to the FCA.
Next actions
None – for information and awareness.