The Financial Conduct Authority has decided not to publish details of an investigation if a public interest test is meet, and to put its diversity and inclusion proposals on hold while it waits for the government to introduce associated legislation. The regulator detailed its position in a letter to the Treasury Select Committee.

In regard to diversity and inclusion, Nikhil Rathi (pictured), chief executive of the FCA, wrote: “There is a very active policy and legislative agenda, including on employment rights, gender action plans and disability and ethnicity pay gap reporting. Many of those who responded to our consultation wanted us to align our regulatory approach with such initiatives, to avoid duplication and unnecessary costs. We therefore do not currently plan to publish new rules on diversity and inclusion. We will continue to support voluntary industry initiatives.”

In regard to enforcement actions, he added: “While consumer and whistleblowing groups generally supported greater transparency, industry remains largely opposed to certain aspects – specifically publicising an investigation into a regulated firm carrying out authorised activity when a public interest test is met.

“Given the lack of consensus, we will not proceed with this and will therefore stick to our existing exceptional circumstances test to determine if we should publicise investigations into regulated firms.”