The last thing finance professionals need as they struggle to emerge from the biggest crisis in 60 years is a reawakening of the “sexism and the City” controversy. This time the issue is not boorish behaviour by male investment bankers, but an industry-wide gender pay gap that is double that of the economy as a whole.

Although finance companies were “early and enthusiastic adopters” of equality initiatives, implementation has proved ineffective and they have not become a core concern of business, according to Monday’s report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.