UK Finance Industry Responds to Parliament’s ‘Sexism in the City’ Inquiry with Promises of Cultural Reform

The UK’s leading financial trade bodies have responded to the Treasury Committee’s ongoing Sexism in the City inquiry, outlining plans to strengthen workplace culture, leadership accountability, and protections against harassment. The latest round of correspondence, published by Parliament in late October, includes statements from the Investment Association, the Diversity Project, and the Association of British Insurers — each pledging renewed efforts to address gender inequality and non-financial misconduct across the sector.

The Investment Association said its members were “committed to improving transparency and strengthening reporting systems,” adding that firms would begin publishing updated diversity and conduct data next year. It also announced that companies are reviewing how they handle incident reporting and settlements — an area the Treasury Committee previously identified as opaque and under-regulated.

The Diversity Project echoed that sentiment but warned that policy frameworks alone will not drive change. It argued that progress depends on visible leadership from senior managers and that inclusive behaviour must become part of performance expectations at every level. The group revealed that it is developing a new training and assessment framework for senior leaders, due to launch in 2026, alongside industry-wide definitions for measuring misconduct.

Meanwhile, the Association of British Insurers supported stronger expectations on workplace culture but cautioned against duplicating existing regulation. It argued that layering new rules on top of current governance requirements could slow real progress, urging instead for practical, measurable commitments that firms can implement effectively.

While each organisation welcomed the Committee’s scrutiny, their letters highlighted different interpretations of how quickly change should happen — and how much regulation is needed to achieve it. The Investment Association focused on transparency and data, the Diversity Project on leadership culture, and the ABI on avoiding over-regulation.

The Treasury Committee’s Sexism in the City report, first released in March 2024, called for measurable progress on gender equality, harassment prevention, and pay transparency. It criticised the financial sector’s reliance on voluntary codes of conduct and warned that a lack of accountability had allowed misconduct and gender bias to persist in parts of the industry.

The new correspondence suggests that progress is underway but uneven. Firms are committing to internal audits, training programmes, and culture metrics — but much of the work remains self-regulated. Lawmakers are expected to review the industry’s progress in 2026, with some MPs suggesting that if voluntary measures fail, binding standards could follow.

For now, the tone from Parliament remains cautiously optimistic. As one committee member observed during the release of the correspondence: “The industry knows what needs to change. The real question is how quickly it will happen.”

Source: CMS