Traders Working at Home Should Expect a Knock at the Door

(Bloomberg) -- Traders and investment banking staff who plan to work from home regularly should expect the U.K.’s markets watchdog to come knocking.

The Financial Conduct Authority on Tuesday warned regulated firms that it has powers to visit any address where work is performed and that includes private residences. The FCA could visit a home for ongoing supervision, not just as part of an investigation, the regulator said.

The updates come as staff across the financial services sector move to a hybrid working model. The FCA said firms will now need to prove that remote working arrangements don’t increase the risk of financial crime or hurt competition.

Even as London’s financial districts start to fill with office workers again, banks are grappling with staff wanting more flexibility in where they work. A Deutsche Bank AG survey showed people expect to continue working from home two to three days a week once the coronavirus pandemic is no longer deemed a threat, while UBS Group AG said at at least two-thirds of staff in the investment bank should be able to do some of their work from home.

The FCA has said since the beginning of the pandemic that it expects financial firms to manage the risk of their staff working from home, said Neil Swift, a white collar crime lawyer at Peters & Peters. 

“However, firms themselves will be taking note that working arrangements, and safeguards around them, are now factors the FCA will expressly take into account when authorizing firms,” he said.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.