Britain's top financial regulator is putting her attention towards an rape claim made by a former UBS banker. The move raises the stakes for the bank.
Megan Butler is the head of Britain's Financial Conduct Authority, or FCA, and undoubtedly a very busy woman. But she is taking time and getting personally involved in the case of a UBS banker who says she was raped last year by a superior, according to investment banking outlet «Financial News».
Butler, a lawyer with more than two decades experience in both regulation and the private sector, revealed last year that she had a victim of sexual misconduct. She has also promised the City's women that the FCA will pay more attention to bullying and harassment in finance.
Unconventional Oversight
Her personal involvement is unusual and follows the news last week that the victim was harassed by another colleague just months before the alleged rape. The FCA didn't comment on Butler's involvement.
The website said the case has become «increasingly significant» for the British regulator, which means the stakes has risen for UBS. The Swiss bank is under pressure to respond carefully and thoughtfully, after it appears to have bumbled the initial reaction to the claims raised by the female banker, who is no longer with UBS.
Cultural Tidal Wave
The bank is caught up in a cultural tidal wave that is redefining what is and isn't acceptable workplace behavior in traditionally male-dominated finance. UBS, which has hired Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer as outside counsel, has said it has zero tolerance for misconduct and harassment, and will thoroughly investigate the claims.
