In Regulatory Wrap for the week to November 21, Kathryn Fallah reviews the focus areas highlighted in the SEC’s 2026 Examination Priorities.
In this week’s Regulatory Wrap, we discuss the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) recently announced final guidance on non-financial misconduct (NFM), which includes information about minimum standards of employee behavior and factors to consider when assessing “fit and proper” behavior.
1. Following on from last year, the FCA has continued its concentration on NFM in 2026 by releasing a final guidance on the topic
2. The guidance includes information about how firms can apply rules to minimum standard of employee behavior, as well as factors to consider when determining if someone is “fit and proper” to hold a position – especially for senior roles
3. The rules state that a manager’s accountability is “relative to their knowledge and authority,” and that the FCA doesn’t expect firms to investigate allegations deemed “trivial or implausible”
4. The guidance includes examples of behavior that could be considered NFM, as well as steps firms can take to address them
5. The rules officially go into effect in September 2026, though firms are expected to “exercise their judgement” when it comes to handling NFM
This week’s Regulatory Wrap is brought to you by Global Relay’s Senior Content Writer, Jay Hampshire.
With the FCA outlining clear rules to address NFM, the regulator has made clear its expectation that firms take all steps to identify, escalate, and prevent instances of bad behavior.
