We have changed our rules to better capture non-financial misconduct (NFM) in non-banks and consulted on whether extra Handbook guidance is needed.
Read CP25/18 and our Policy Statement (PDF)[1]
Serious misconduct such as bullying, harassment and violence is a matter of regulatory concern.
By aligning the conduct rules in banks and non-banks for cases of serious NFM, we want to:
This change will help promote healthy and inclusive workplace cultures and deepen trust in financial services, in line with our strategy for 2025 to 2030 (PDF)[2].
This publication applies to all Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) firms with a Part 4A permission and staff in those firms who are subject to our Code of Conduct (COCON)[3].
It may also be of interest to other stakeholders, including:
This consultation has now closed. We will publish feedback on responses and issue a Policy Statement once we have reviewed your comments.
In September 2023, we published a consultation paper (CP23/20[4]) on proposals for a new regulatory framework on Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) in the financial sector. This included proposals on NFM.
On 12 March 2025, we announced that we have no plans to take this work further, except for our proposals on NFM.
CP25/18 on tackling non-financial misconduct in financial services finalises our proposed rule and consults on draft guidance to support firms to apply our rules on NFM if needed.
On 15 July, we published our SM&CR Review consultation paper where we set out proposed changes to the regime, including on COCON and the Conduct Rules (CP25/21[5]).
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