Two of the UK's top financial regulators have repealed plans to introduce corporate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) requirements as President Donald Trump's alarm drive spreads globally.
The Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), two top regulators of London's financial companies, said they would abandon the DEI plan, including forcing companies to report so-called wage gaps between gender and ethnicity.
Lieutenant Governor of the Bank of England and Head of Pra Sam Woods I said, Guardian“It can sometimes be seen as a tension in that approach by reducing the regulatory burden on businesses and adding new requirements that are important to this area while providing our purpose.”
The regulator said it would continue to support the “voluntary industry initiative” aimed at increasing the so-called diversity within the financial sector.
However, they argued that doubling restrictions from Watchdog would unnecessarily hinder competitiveness as the left-wing Labour government plans to introduce DEI reporting standards.
“Many of the people who responded to our consultation wanted our regulatory approach to be tailored to relevant initiatives to avoid duplication and unnecessary costs,” Woods said.
The public moves by regulators to distance themselves from DEI initiatives, many of which are literally discriminating on the basis of race and gender, as President Donald Trump has made fighting often racist and sexist awakening practices a priority in his administration.
The Trump election and the changing public sentiment in the US have led to major companies such as Amazon, McDonald's and Walmart tossing the DEI program.
The war on the will of the Trump administration has already affected progressive institutions of international importance, such as the UK's top LGBTQ+ charity, Stonewall.
Last month, Stonewall reported that it would have to cut at least half of its staff after President Trump's decision to suspend foreign aid.
This was followed by the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) spy agency withdrawing from Stonewall's corporate diversity scheme.
