MPs launch inquiry into sexism in the City after sector rocked by scandals

A group of MPs have launched a probe into sexism and misogyny in the City after recent months have unveiled sexual assault allegations by female staff members at influential businesses.

The Treasury Committee, which scrutinises the work of the Treasury and public financial bodies, said it wants to find out more about the barriers women in financial services face.

The new inquiry will address whether the Government and watchdogs need to play a bigger part in combatting sexual harassment and misogyny in the sector.

This could be by being better gender diversity role models, or making policies that support women’s progress, and encouraging careers in the industry to be marketed to a more diverse base of individuals, the committee said.

It is calling for people to submit evidence, particularly from women working in finance, online before September.

The move comes after a raft of allegations against City financier Crispin Odey resulted in him leaving the hedge fund he set up, Odey Asset Management.

Has the culture in this highly paid sector shifted at all in the last five years? This is a subject of marked importance to our committee and we look forward to beginning work on this important topic

The Financial Times last month uncovered allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct against Mr Odey by 13 women who either worked with or had professional dealings with the fund manager.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is being quizzed about how it handled the claims.

Elsewhere, influential business lobbying group the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has battled for survival after more than a dozen women came forward with allegations that they were sexually harassed while working for the company. Two women said they were raped by colleagues.

It led to questions about the culture at the organisation and how it dealt with complaints from staff.

The sexism inquiry will also examine how much progress has been made in removing gender pay gaps.

Among full-time employees, the median hourly pay was 8.3% less for women than men as of April last year, according to the latest official data from the Office for National Statistics.

Some financial services companies have reported much wider gender pay gaps.

In its latest annual report, major bank HSBC UK said women were earning just over half the hourly pay that male staff earn on average. At Lloyds Bank, its female staff were earning about a third less than men.

MP Harriett Baldwin, chairwoman of the Treasury Committee, said: “As a committee, we’d like to know whether women feel more supported in the financial services industry than at the time of the previous committee’s inquiry five years ago.

“We’ll be investigating if enough work has been done to build more supportive workplace cultures, how harassment and misogyny can be addressed, and the role the Government and regulator should play in role modelling behaviours.

“Has the culture in this highly paid sector shifted at all in the last five years? This is a subject of marked importance to our committee and we look forward to beginning work on this important topic.”

The previous 2018 inquiry called for firms to abolish “alpha-male” cultures that discourage women’s progression, remove the stigma of flexile working, and pushed them to publish strategies to close gender pay gaps.