The figures, which were obtained through a freedom of information request by The Times newspaper, revealed that 5,070 people have been forced out of the industry for dishonest or reckless conduct in the five years since 2009.
Figures peaked in 2009 and 2012, when the FCA received 1,095 and 1,373 ‘qualified Form Cs’ respectively.
Form Cs are part of a mandatory reporting process for the financial services industry, and must be lodged when firms deem employees unfit to work or when they dismiss or suspend any approved individual authorised to act on their behalf.
Last year financial services firms submitted a total of 939 qualified Form Cs to the regulator. While this marked a drop of around 30% on the year before, it was still more than in the two years preceeding the Libor scandal – 2010 saw 885 people forced out of their jobs followed by 778 in 2011.
However, the FCA could not say how many cases were considered for investigation, or indeed, later investigated.
The FCA last year made clear it was intent on punishing rogue players. In its first three quarters of existence fines levied against the financial services industry soared by more than 40% compared with the last year of the Financial Services Authority.
High profile names put in the frame since the FCA took over the regulatory reins in April, included Lloyds, Clydesdale Bank, J.P. Morgan Chase, Axa Wealth, Aberdeen Asset Managers and Royal Bank of Scotland. The total amount of fines under the FCA was £444.2m by mid December.
