Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Financial Conduct Authority's report Gender diversity in UK financial services, published in November 2019, and its finding that women constitute 17 per cent of FCA-approved individuals.

The government’s aspiration is to see gender balance at all levels across financial services firms. A balanced workforce is good for business – it is good for customers, for profitability and workplace culture. HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter reflects our ambition to see more women in senior roles in financial services firms. Charter signatories have committed to implement strategic actions to improve their gender balance at a senior level.

Our third annual review of the Women in Finance Charter was published on 23 June 2020 and demonstrated that the majority of signatories (81%) have met or are on track to meet their targets. Almost two thirds of signatories have increased the proportion of women in senior management over that period.

We have noted the findings of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) report that gender diversity among FCA-approved individuals remains low and continue to use this and other evidence to encourage the industry to go further to improve gender diversity in financial services.