COCON: Did the conduct fall within the conduct rules?
- Conduct toward a colleague
- Work-link and reasonableness tests
- Specified bullying, harassment or violence
- Manager response to known workplace misconduct
FCA PS25/23 · Practical briefing
FCA non-financial misconduct: what changes on 1 September
A practical guide for compliance, HR and SMCR teams—covering COCON, FIT, what firms should review, and what the FCA says firms do not need to monitor.
Get the practical guideSee the assessment workflow
Based on the FCA’s published policy statement and non-financial misconduct implementation materials. This page is practical information, not legal advice. Read the FCA source.
A conduct-rule change, not a licence to investigate private lives
From 1 September 2026, the FCA’s new rule makes specified serious misconduct toward colleagues capable of falling within COCON for non-bank firms when the required work connection is present. FIT remains a separate, relevance-based assessment.
Important boundary: The FCA expressly says firms do not need to monitor employees’ private lives or social media, and do not need to investigate information that is trivial, implausible or irrelevant.
COCON and FIT answer different questions
FIT: Does reliable conduct evidence matter to fitness and propriety?
- Role-specific regulatory relevance
- Reliability and context of information
- Materiality—not mere controversy
- A fair opportunity to explain or correct
The context changes the answer
Repeated public threats aimed at a colleague
The identity, target, workplace link and context can be verified. Escalate through the firm’s conduct process and preserve evidence and response.
An external allegation about private conduct
Ask whether it is credible, supported by a formal finding and materially relevant to the role. Do not convert an allegation into a conclusion.
A lawful controversial opinion
The FCA says lawful expression of controversial views on social media does not, by itself, call fitness and propriety into question.
FCA non-financial misconduct questions
When do the FCA’s new rules take effect?
The new COCON rule and related FIT guidance take effect on 1 September 2026.
Does the FCA require social-media monitoring?
No. The FCA says firms do not need to monitor employees’ private lives or social media.
Does Ferretly decide whether someone is fit and proper?
No. The firm remains responsible for its lawful basis, process and final decision.