(Alliance News) - City watchdogs have axed proposals for new rules aimed at improving diversity, equity & inclusion, DEI at regulated firms.
The Financial Conduct Authority, FCA, and Prudential Regulation Authority, PRA, which oversee financial services and banks in the UK, had both consulted on the proposals in 2023.
These included requirements for firms to develop a diversity and inclusion strategy, to collect and share data, and set targets to address under-representation.
The watchdogs also put forward proposed guidance on taking action against employee misconduct such as bullying and sexual harassment, which may threaten health firm cultures that, in turn, attract talent and boost competitiveness.
But in a joint update shared on Wednesday the regulators said they have "no plans to take the work further".
The watchdogs said the decision came in light of the broad range of feedback they received from stakeholders during the consultation, including concerns of duplication with proposed government legislation.
Ministers are planning to introduce laws aimed at improving diversity and inclusion by requiring firms to take actions such as developing gender action plans and reporting their ethnicity and disability pay gaps.
The FCA and PRA also said they wish to "avoid additional burdens on firms at this time" after Chancellor Rachel Reeves urged regulators in January to cut red tape that holds back economic growth.
In a letter to Commons Treasury Committee Chair Dame Meg Hillier, PRA chief executive Sam Woods said: "We continue to think that an appropriate focus on diversity and inclusion in the culture of the firms we regulate can deliver improved internal governance, decision-making and risk management, and that this can support both safety and soundness – through reduced risk of group-think – and the competitiveness of UK financial services over the medium to long-term."
But he added that many stakeholders who responded to their consultation called for the regulators to align their rules with related government legislation "to avoid duplication and unnecessary costs".
"There is also a growing emphasis in our work on reducing regulatory burdens on firms while still delivering our objectives, and adding significant new requirements in this area could be seen as in tension with that approach," he wrote.
"Given this, we do not currently plan to publish new rules on diversity and inclusion, and do not intend to return to this question until after the substantive implementation of any new legislation in this area."
Woods said the PRA will continue to support voluntary industry initiatives and will "remain alert to the risks of group-think within firms using our existing supervisory approaches on management, governance, risk management and controls".
Elsewhere, the PRA said it is continuing work with the FCA to review the impact that removing the cap on city bonuses has on gender pay inequality.
The decision to remove the cap on UK bankers' bonuses in 2023 sparked concerns about the exacerbation of pay inequality between men and women, with more men in senior positions receiving larger payouts compared with fixed salaries.
Woods said: "Given the time it will take for firms to make changes to their remuneration policies, this work is likely to begin in the 2026/27 financial year."
The future of diversity and inclusion at UK companies has come under the spotlight in recent weeks after Donald Trump's inauguration as US president.
Trump's election victory accelerated corporate America's return to more conservative stances, with executives axing DEI departments, watering down language that could be seen as "woke" and pulling out of climate groups.
In the UK firms must comply with the UK's equality laws and fears continue over the impact that the US culture shift could have in British offices.
The PA news agency has contacted the Treasury Committee for comment.
By Rebecca Speare-Cole, PA sustainability reporter
Press Association: Finance
source: PA
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