#Wetoo

Contrary to the popular mythology that journalists are fuelled by an almost exclusive diet of hard liquor, we scribes actually function on a steady stream of tea and coffee.

That is why when an important notice comes from Head Office it is always pasted onto the office fridge, for there it is sure to catch the attention of those reaching in for the milk.

The latest such notice to be stuck to the fridge door is for a confidential independent staff whistleblowing helpline to report concerns over failures in the conduct of the body corporate as well as individuals.

I imagine that you will have noticed something similar appearing in your place of work. If not, it will soon be nestling between the Health and Safety notices and the Employers' Liability or Workers' Comp certificates.

Never mind the overall conduct of your business and how it treats customers and suppliers, the personal conduct of the individuals in your workplace has never been higher up the political and news agenda on either side of the Atlantic.

The Harvey Weinstein scandal has burst an invisible dam and the torrents of transparency it has unleashed have already washed away parts of the establishment and are currently flooding the highest corridors of power in the UK.

Anyone who thinks the wave will not break over the financial services sector is a fool. We have all the conditions necessary:

A male-dominated hierarchy, an authoritarian culture and a cult of celebrity around star producers and underwriters combine with long hours and large amounts of global travel to produce what are probably the perfect conditions for improper behaviour to thrive.

The recent experience of Hollywood shows that that is really all it takes for some to start making their own rules.

The louche casting couch myth turned out not to be satire but unembellished description.

There is no need to dwell on the mystery of why this has happened now and not sooner, the only fact that matters is that it is finally happening.

The dam held for so long that it seemed impregnable, or that the problem had been legislated away by equal rights rules.

It just took longer for brave victims to come forward, refuse to be silenced by pay-offs and gagging orders, and publicly identify their tormentors.

The same will soon happen here. A close-quarters market such as London is always awash with salacious gossip of a sexual nature. But our news team has never been presented with hard evidence of impropriety, even anonymously.

Occasional allegations of sexual discrimination have emerged ahead of employment tribunals, but these always settle out of court before a public hearing.

But I feel this will change and when it does, it will do so quickly.

One strong sign of this is that the #metoo campaign that followed the Weinstein sacking brought out strong support from within the insurance community.

Last night we had a discussion over the news desk about what we would do if strong and plausible allegations emerged against a senior executive within our universe.

We agreed that if such a story were to surface, we would have a moral duty to investigate and, if comfortable with the facts, publish, whatever the consequences.

We presume industry boardrooms are having similar discussions. Or if they aren't, they certainly should be.

Strong leadership will be key to navigating this culture change successfully.

It has been done before. Seven years ago a new chairman of Lloyd's made the first public senior executive reference to diversity in our sector. He then hired the Corporation's first female CEO and backed strong investment in inclusion and diversity programmes.

Now I&D is everywhere you look and Nelson should take the credit for that.

Perhaps the recently arrived chairman will choose his first public pronouncements to reset the tone for Lloyd's and the global (re)insurance market on this far more contentious, but far more important issue.