The FCA is Coming for Culture 2026

Tuesday 16th June, 2026

Delivered Virtually, Zoom

Attendee Fees: Non-members: £425 (VAT Exempt), Members: £275 (VAT Exempt)

Time: 09:30 - 12:30

Duration: 3 hours

COURSE DETAILS

Timings: 9.30 -12.30 | 3 CPD hours

Culture is no longer a soft issue.

In the wake of thousands of non-financial misconduct (NFM) allegations, new legal obligations on employers, and intensifying FCA scrutiny, culture has emerged as a regulatory priority and a critical driver of operational risk, governance integrity and corporate value. The FCA has made it clear that they see poor culture and governance as root causes for NFM, but beyond that, they see how proactively planning for and maintaining a healthy culture increases profitability and growth.

This half-day online workshop looks at the FCA view on why culture matters, introduces core concepts around organisational culture and how to measure it, and explores how to embed cultural resilience across your firm. You’ll gain insight into regulatory expectations, real-world M&A and leadership case studies, and practical tools to assess and evolve your culture.

This is a great opportunity to understand the carrots and the sticks for getting organisational culture right. We will start demystifying approaches to measuring and evolving your culture and leadership, so that you go away with tangible ideas on impactful interventions for adapting your culture.

Who is it for?

The course is applicable to all those that are interested in culture, but is particularly aimed at senior leaders, team leaders, legal & compliance managers, as well as those leading M&A, operational and HR teams.

Course Overview

Delegates will leave with:

A clear understanding of the FCA’s evolving expectations on culture
Real-world strategies for cultural due diligence and integration in mergers & acquisitions
A brief introduction to the Organisational Culture Integration Assessment and Path Goal theory
A walkthrough of The Culture Diagnostic – a tested tool to measure and evolve organisational culture

Your Trainers

Merolyn Whittaker

This session will be delivered by Quirk Solutions Operations Director, Merolyn Whitaker and Mark Paton, Senior Consultant.

Merolyn is a strategic operations leader with a background in military intelligence, regulatory environments, and sustainable business growth. As former COO of the University of Oxford’s SDG Impact Lab, she led high-profile programmes with global partners like BMW and the UNWTO, embedding ethical leadership and compliance-conscious culture at scale.

A former British Army Intelligence Officer, Merolyn has extensive experience navigating high-risk, high-regulation settings. She specialises in building organisational cultures that support accountability, psychological safety, and mission clarity — particularly during transformation, growth, or post-merger integration.

Alongside her public service, Merolyn is an award-winning entrepreneur and franchise leader. Her work bridges the gap between regulatory expectations and human-centred leadership, helping organisations sustain cultural integrity under scrutiny

Merolyn Whittaker

Mark is a financial services professional with over 30 years experience in front office, risk, compliance and senior operational roles. His experience covers buy side, sell side, wealth management, hedge funds, technology, programme management and senior consultancy. Mark brings focus coupled with a calm approach that allows communication to flow and solutions to be found. He most often works at a Board or strategic level but is able to balance that with a pragmatic approach, working with BAU teams and change functions.

He was an Executive Director with Morgan Stanley in London and Zurich and Head of Global Operations for Cheyne Capital Management. Having built a suceesful consultancy portfolio and coaching practice he now works with Quirk Solutions to help bridge the gap between the reality of working in financial services whilst striving for a connected strategy and a positive and supportive culture. He served as a member of the Investment Association Brexit Committee 2018-2020.