Anna Wallace, chief executive of the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT), has said that the City of London still does not have enough diversity in its most senior positions, despite some progress in recent years. Speaking as part of the Square Mile and Me series, the 46-year-old former regulator and civil servant urged the financial sector to do more collectively to address the imbalance.
Wallace, who grew up in Lerwick, Shetland, and studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at university, spent years inside the regulatory machinery before moving into international development. She led the world's first regulatory sandbox at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and later became a senior programme officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she oversaw global investment strategies in financial inclusion and regulatory technology.
During her time at the Gates Foundation, Wallace secured £50m from Bill Gates to support consumer protection in emerging markets, targeting fraud and scams that disproportionately affect vulnerable consumers. She returned to the UK last year to take up the CEO role at CFIT, an organisation focused on the intersection of finance, technology, innovation and regulation across sectors including Open Banking, SME finance and Open Property.
Wallace noted that while the City is a 'thriving innovation hotbed' with immense talent and opportunity, the lack of diversity at the top remains a glaring shortcoming. 'Progress has been made, but there is much more for us to collectively do,' she said. Her comments come amid ongoing debate about representation in UK financial services, where senior leadership roles remain disproportionately held by a narrow demographic.
For UK households and businesses, the lack of diversity in financial decision-making can affect everything from product design to access to capital. A more diverse leadership is widely considered to drive better outcomes for consumers, including more inclusive lending practices and innovation tailored to underserved communities. The Bank of England has previously highlighted the link between diversity and financial stability, though no specific targets are currently mandated.