City lawyers are questioning the legal basis of the Financial Conduct Authority’s threat to inspect finance executives’ home offices to ensure their compliance with City rules, days after a memo from the UK’s markets watchdog caused widespread concern in the sector.

The FCA asked City bosses in an 11 October note to demonstrate that a fundamental shift in working patterns prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic would not damage the “integrity of the market”, “increase the risk of financial crime” or harm customers.