The FCA has appointed Home Office director Ruairi O’Connell to be its new director of international as it continues its recruitment drive.

The number of full-time employees at the Financial Conduct Authority fell by 4% to 3,791 in the 2021/22 financial year.

FCA CEO Nikhil Rathi has defended the pay packages of staff - some of whom went on strike this week - as “possibly the best package” among UK regulators.

Unite union members at the Financial Conduct Authority have begun a 48-hour walkout today in a protest over pay, terms and lack of trade union recognition.