FIN.

FCA speaks on importance of diversity and inclusion

Nihil Rathi, speaking at Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter Annual review, stressed that diversity and inclusion are regulatory issues. He noted the breadth of characteristics that “diversity” encompasses, while focussing for the particular speech on gender diversity.  He said that since the launch of the charter, 62% of signatories have seen an improvement in female representation in senior management, but even among those firms, that is still less than one third of senior management. He said this matters to a regulator, which is itself setting ambitious diversity targets. He said that not only are the most diverse companies likely to perform best, but also firms that lack diversity at top level may be unable to understand the different communities they serve. He noted FCA’s work on wholesale banking culture and the conduct questions it introduced – he wants to add a 6th question asking firms whether there management team is sufficiently diverse and creates a culture where all can speak up.

Emma Radmore