AFB Seminar: New FCA Guidance on Non-Financial Misconduct, an overview

AFB and Ashurst invite you to attend an in-person seminar that will explore the requirements of the updated FCA guidance on non-financial misconduct.  The revised guidance is due to be released early 2025.

The new proposals will provide some clarity regarding what constitutes non-financial misconduct (covering violence, harassment, bullying and victimisation). When non-financial misconduct may be relevant in the context of fit and proper assessments; and when non-financial misconduct may amount to a breach of the Conduct Rules (which can be enforced directly against individuals by the FCA).

Why attend?

Banks will be required to familiarise themselves with the changes, and the seminar aims to help with preparation to ensure that your bank is:

• Effectively reviewing and amending policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the new guidance, for example, by using FIT guidance to update criteria for assessing whether individuals who perform a SMF or Certified function are fit and proper to do so, and ensuring regulatory reference requirements are complied with
• Providing thorough compliance training for employees at every level of the organisation
• Offering effective mechanisms by which employees (and others) can report non-financial misconduct concerns
• Investigating concerns relating to non-financial misconduct promptly and effectively and reporting to the FCA where appropriate (including considering when non-financial misconduct amounts to a breach of a Conduct Rule).

Who should attend?

This session is aimed at those working in People, Compliance, and Legal functions.

Speakers

Nathan Willmott, Partner, Regulatory Enforcement

Nathan specialises in representing financial institutions, and individual members of senior management on investigations and other complex regulatory and legal issues. He has over 25 years’ experience of supporting regulated firms and individuals in relation to FCA, PRA and multi-jurisdictional Enforcement investigations and proceedings concerning suspected regulatory breaches, skilled person reviews, SMCR and governance issues, whistleblower investigations, conducting internal investigations and handling related litigation.

Adam Jamieson, Partner, Regulatory Enforcement

Adam specialises in advising banks and senior individuals involved in internal and regulatory investigations.  Adam has significant experience of representing clients in regulatory enforcement investigations conducted by the UK regulators and advising on non-financial misconduct related matters (including carrying out whistleblowing investigations and considering the impact of NFM from an SM&CR perspective).  Adam previously spent a year on secondment to the FCA’s Enforcement & Market Oversight Division. investigations.

Ruth Buchanan, Partner, Employment

Ruth specialises in providing strategic, commercially focussed advice on all aspects of employment law. Ruth has a thriving advisory practice advising on employee relations issues, workforce restructurings, data privacy, equality and diversity and restraint of trade. She regularly represents clients in workplace mediation and in the Employment Tribunal. Ruth works with a broad range of clients in the financial services space including banks, brokers and private equity firms advising on day-to-day advisory issues, compliance, advisory issues and litigation. She has also been working with a number of clients in their preparations for the D&I changes and in relation to the FCA’s survey on non-financial misconduct.

Logistics

Fee           Included in AFB membership

Location  In-person at Ashurst LLP, London Fruit & Wool Exchange, 1 Duval Square, London, E1 6PW

Date         Wednesday 12 March 2025

Time         08:30 – 10:15 (registration & refreshments from 08:30 – 09.00)

There will be ample opportunity for questions throughout the session, however, if you would like to submit a question before or have any specific questions or areas that you would like the session to address, please send them to the AFB at secretariat@foreignbanks.org.uk as soon as practicable. You will receive details on how to join this in-person session a week before the event.