Writing in NLJ this week, Chloe-Jane Belton, legal director and business crime expert at Howard Kennedy, examines the Financial Conduct Authority’s non-financial misconduct regime and its implications for regulated firms.
Complaints may affect disciplinary action, whistleblowing, regulatory references, reporting obligations and fitness assessments. An employment outcome does not automatically settle the regulatory question: firms must reach their own assessment.
But treating every disagreement as a compliance crisis risks discouraging complaints and obscuring serious misconduct. The regime requires proportionate judgement, rather than automatic escalation.
Social media poses difficult questions, with conduct outside working hours potentially relevant to integrity and suitability for regulated roles.
Belton urges coordinated HR and compliance decisions, supported by consistent evidence and records. The challenge, she writes, is navigating a framework built around ‘judgement rather than bright-line rules’.
