Partner Ian Hargreaves comments on workplace culture and corporate governance, in Bloomberg

Speaking with Bloomberg, Partner Ian Hargreaves comments on the growing scrutiny on workplace conduct in the financial services sector and the increasing expectation on firms to manage culture as a core governance risk.

Ian’s comments were published in Bloomberg, 20 November 2025.

“Workplace culture has become one of the biggest risk factors in the financial sector. A GC at a leading bank once told me the issues that kept him awake were not balance sheets or capital requirements but sexism, racism and bullying inside the firm.

“After the financial crisis, and subsequent litigation, banks invested heavily in compliance and governance. They realised the next major exposure was workplace culture. This coincided with the MeToo and Black Lives Matter movement, which pushed misconduct into the spotlight and made it impossible for boards to ignore.

“The FCA has been signalling concern for years. Its 2020 ‘Dear CEO’ letter to the wholesale general insurance market put discrimination and bullying firmly on the regulatory agenda. The fact the FCA now labels that letter as historical underlines how quickly expectations are moving and how central culture has become to supervision.

“As Lloyd’s has suggested, a great deal of work has been done to improve workplace culture. Many firms have rewritten rules on workplace relationships, and some have moved close to outright bans. With that level of scrutiny, the idea that this latest issue slipped through the gaps is surprising.

“It will be interesting to see whether the change of policy and approach, seen largely over the last 5 years, is loosened with the anti-Woke sentiment and different approach that Trump seems to be encouraging in the U.S. I doubt it. The change in workplace culture has been for the good – although a sensible balance needs to be achieved.

“Conflicts of interest have always created risk. This episode shows that personal and cultural conflicts can be just as career-ending as financial ones. And the fact this story was almost certainly driven by disgruntled employees illustrates how sensitive and politically charged these cases have become.”