"Racism in banking still a significant problem, says report"

From the BBC:

Racism remains a "significant problem" in British banking despite improvements in recent years, according to a House of Commons committee report. MPs also said homophobia may now be the most prevalent form of discrimination.

The report responds to "continuing concerns" following the Kweko Aduboli case. John Whittingdale MP, chair of the inquiry, said: "Recent incidents of coloured bankers being used as scapegoats in the UK highlight that there remain significant problems."

Although LIBOR-fixing, PPI mis-selling and other abuses are rife in the City of London, and all trades are recorded in real time on computer systems, when it comes to making a token sacrifice, it is usually non-white bankers who are singled out, even when the bank concerned had been aware of, and tolerated, his activities for some considerable time.

Outside of the commercial banks, senior members of the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority are overwhelmingly "white, male and middle-aged".

The Financial Services Committee report said that behaviour and the atmosphere at trading floors and back offices had "changed hugely" since the 1970s and 80s "when racial and other forms of abuse were common". It added that several initiatives and charities such as Love Finance Hate Racism have helped to reduce racism where it is most prevalent - at the high street banks and online - but more still needs to be done.