In collaboration with reputation consultancy Lansons, Katten has launched “(mis)Conduct, Money & Reputation,” a new podcast series that explores the increasingly widespread issue of misconduct in financial services, to give listeners a better understanding of rules and regulations — and the reputational fallout when things go wrong.

The series is hosted by David Masters, partner and asset management lead at Lansons, and Financial Markets and Funds partner Neil Robson, whose practice includes regulatory compliance matters.

The first episode, “Odey, FCA, non-financial misconduct,” launched September 6 with guest Ciara McBrien, a Katten Financial Markets and Funds associate based in London.

In the inaugural episode, the trio focuses on non-financial misconduct in financial services, drawing on cases such as that alleged against Odey Asset Management — a story that is defining the sector’s image in the public eye. Parallel examples are also drawn from other cases, including Jonathan Paul Burrows and Paul Flowers, highlighting the reputational hazards involved, from association risk and treatment of whistle-blowers to the potential for mitigation.

In the episode, Neil notes, "Even though the #MeToo movement began some years ago, it's finally arrived at the FCA, and it's front and centre. It looks like the FCA rules are going to have to change and that people convicted or even accused potentially of really serious misconduct will definitively not be ‘fit and proper’ and so have to be removed from the financial services sector.”

Ciara observes, “The FCA intends to provide further guidance on non-financial misconduct, including how non-financial misconduct should be considered within its rules later in 2023. But it's almost difficult to see in some respects how guidance will be able to rectify the fundamental issue that the rules don't work when it comes to non-financial misconduct.”

Listen to the first episode: