A brouhaha has erupted over the British Financial Conduct Authority's reported decision to either scrap or suppress the publication of its thematic review of the 'culture of compliance' at financial firms. The influence of Chancellor George Osborne is suspected.

In its business plan for 2015/16, submitted in the spring, the FCA promised a 'culture review,' saying: "In 2015/16 we will conduct a new thematic review on whether culture change programmes in retail and wholesale banks are driving the right behaviour, in particular focusing on remuneration, appraisal and promotion decisions of middle management, as well as how concerns are reported and acted on."

Promises are one thing; the fulfilment of promises is another. The FCA generally publishes some of the results from its thematic reviews, but the British press is predicting that this will not happen now. Business Insider UK says that a source close to the regulator told it that the report, although not the entire investigation, had been 'scrapped' in favour of a decision to ask banks on a one-by-one basis about the cultural efficacy of their decisions to remunerate and promote people. It apparently asked the FCA to confirm this formally but only received obfuscatory twaddle in return. When Compliance Matters rang the FCA, its offices were closed until 4th January.

John Mann, the opposition Labour MP who sits on Parliament's Treasury Select Committee, has been quoted by BI as saying that the "FCA surrender to big banks today is entirely from pressure from the Treasury and Osborne." The Belfast Telegraph quotes him as saying: "George Osborne is behind it, without any question. The cultural issues are what lays [sic] at the heart of the financial crisis. This decision leaves us hugely exposed into the future because it allows the banks to continue to act as they acted before." Reuters quotes from his Twitter account: "the whole point of the scuppered FCA culture enquiry was to look at the ethics and morality at the top of banking - or rather its absence."

Compliance Matters wishes its readers a Happy New Year.