The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced the launch of a survey into how investment banks and commercial insurers deal with sexual harassment, bullying and other non-financial misconduct.

Speaking to Parliament's cross-party Treasury Committee, FCA executive director Sarah Pritchard said that the watchdog would survey the wholesale banking and insurance market to determine the level of misconduct, how it was detected and measures taken to resolve any issues.

She said: "We can use what it tells us to take stock, to share best practice ... but also, crucially, to inform our supervisory programme when the new rule sets come into place.”

The spokesperson was giving evidence to a “Sexism in the City” inquiry into whether enough is being done to tackle sexism and misogyny in financial services amid the sector’s persistent reputation as an “old boys’ club”.

Pritchard confirmed that the survey will be completed by mid-2024.

Following anonymous meetings between 40 women in industry and the committee in November, a summary of discussions was published by the committee on Wednesday. Most attendees saying they had directly experienced sexual harassment or knew of colleagues who had. They also suggested that the bar to reporting misconduct is high because the victim is typically forced to move teams, companies or – in extreme circumstances – the industry.

The conversations also revealed that non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) are widely used in the industry to protect firms from reputational damage.

The attendees recommended a number of measures ranging from threat of fines and penalties, to requirements for firms to report the number of NDAs they had agreed.

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