FCA to extend bullying and harassment rules to non-banks

In a policy paper today (2 July), the regulator explained that, in the past, there was a lack of clarity around the treatment of these types of misconduct in regulated firms other than banks, especially about whether they should be considered as breaches of conduct rules. However, under the updated framework, bullying, harassment and violence will be added to the code of conduct as misconduct and should be treated as such by both firms and the regulator. From 1 September 2026, the extension to the conduct rules will apply to around 37,000 regulated firms, the FCA set out, "increasing ...