On 30 September 2021, the FICC Markets Standards Board (FMSB) published a Spotlight Review which examines hybrid working risks in the wholesale fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) markets.
The FMSB is a private sector, market led organisation created as a result of the recommendations in the Fair and Effective Markets Review (FEMR) Final Report in 2015. One of the central recommendations of FEMR was that participants in the FICC markets should take more responsibility for raising standards of behaviour and improving the quality, clarity and market-wide understanding of FICC trading practices.
The Spotlight Review that the FMSB has now published seeks to support the adoption of hybrid working models in FICC markets in a controlled way by identifying key conduct risks associated with such models and considering steps that firms can take to mitigate them. In particular, the Spotlight Review categorises conduct-related risks associated with hybrid working models into five thematic categories: cultural change, supervision and control impairments, execution risks, sharing of confidential information and threats to market effectiveness. Within these categories the FMSB considers a number of individual risks and potential mitigants.