The Commons Treasury Select Committee launched an investigation after claims of sexual misconduct against fund manager Crispin Odey and the CBI lobby group.

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Evidence was given by City figures including Baroness Helena Morrissey and AVIVA boss Amanda Blanc.

The MPs said: “Although sexual harassment against women is a societal problem it’s worse in financial services than in many others.”

They added it was “shocking to hear how prevalent sexual harassment and bullying — up to and including serious sexual assault and rape — are”.

 MP Harriet Baldwin complained: “It’s so frustrating efforts to tackle sexism in the City are moving at a snail’s pace.”

The committee recommended legislation is passed to ban non- disclosure agreements in sexual harassment cases — and give stronger protection to whistle-blowers.

The committee also scrutinised the lack of progress on gender pay gaps in the City — and how to get more women into senior roles.

Just 12 per cent of named fund mangers in the UK are women and there are currently 15 female chief executives out of the top 350 London-listed companies. That is just four per cent.

The committee recommended a ban on prospective employers asking for salary history from candidates which unfairly affects many women. It also wants salary ranges on job adverts so women could not be short-changed.

Having and raising children is one of the main obstructions to women progressing.

MPs made the recommendations after discovering that at the present glacial pace it will take 70 years to close the gender pay gap.

PensionBee boss Romi Savova said salary disclosure rules would be a big step forward to stop women being hired on lower pay than male colleagues.

Costume drama

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THERE has been plenty of drama at ITV, the broadcaster behind hit shows including The Masked Singer, above, and Love Island.

The company saw profits fall 61 per cent to £193million on the back of an advertising slowdown.

Boss Carolyn McCall says she will cut another £50million costs.

The broadcaster has been investing in its ITVX streaming service, which has grown digital sales to £490million.

Virgin in a £2.9bn takeover

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NATIONWIDE has struck a £2.9billion takeover of rival Virgin Money which will create the UK’s second biggest mortgage and savings group.

The building society, which has 605 branches, said it will not shut any of Virgin Money’s 91 branches until 2026.

It is also keeping Virgin Money’s branding for six years — meaning Sir Richard Branson will continue to receive around £15million-a-year royalties for the use of the Virgin name until it is phased out.

Virgin Money — the UK’s sixth biggest retail bank — was built up after the takeover of Northern Rock in the aftermath of the financial crisis and was bought by Clydesdale and Yorkshire in 2018.

Nationwide’s 220p-a-share bid is a 38 per cent premium to Virgin Money’s closing share price.

Debbie Crosbie, Nationwide boss, said the takeover would “bring the benefits of fairer banking and mutual ownership to more people”.

M&S joint boss off

CO-CHIEF executive of Marks & Spencer Katie Bickerstaffe is leaving the retailer in July — ending one of the most unusual boardrooms in business.

Ms Bickerstaffe was part of a controversial decision to promote two senior staff to lead the company — billed as them “flying in formation”.

She still had to report to Stuart Machin who remains as chief executive.

Ms Bickerstaffe, paid £2.2million last year, is leaving to pursue more non-executive board roles.

Pensions gender fight

IT is International Women’s Day today, but it could easily be called Pension Gender Gap Groundhog Day.

The gap is the difference between the values of men’s and women’s private pension pots at age 55 — the earliest they can be accessed.

Figures put this difference at a whopping 35 per cent.

The average woman reaches 55 with just under £100,000 in her pension — while the average man has just under £150,000. This gap persists because a lot of women are the default care provider for children or other relatives.

 Their time off paid work leads to career hurdles, lower pay and missed pension contributions.

Many raise their contributions to compensate. But they should not have to give up more of their income than men to get pension parity.

Many companies offer longer paid maternity leave for women than men. But childcare leave should be the same to avoid sending out the signal that caring for children is a woman’s job.

To make women’s task even more difficult, their state pension age was raised from 60 to 66 but workplace equality remains elusive.

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