The regulator’s chief operating officer Georgina Philippou said she was “appalled about the incidents of bad behaviour towards our building and colleagues”, in a letter to staff posted on the FCA’s intranet, the Evening Standard reported.

Ms Philippou said she was “ashamed” of the behaviour of a “minority of colleagues” who she said had been responsible for “leaving cutlery and crockery in the kitchen areas, overflowing bins, stealing plants and charging cables from desks, catering and security teams being subject to verbal abuse, colleagues defecating on the floor in toilet cubicles on a particular floor, urinating on the floor in the men’s toilets and leaving alcohol bottles in sanitary bins”.

The FCA refused to release the full contents of the memo when asked by Financial Planning Today, but did provide a statement on the “bad behaviour” of staff at the watchdog's East London base.

An FCA spokesman said: “There has been a small number of incidents of bad behaviour towards our colleagues and building. 

“We have a duty as an employer to highlight this sort of poor behaviour and our senior management are very clear it is simply unacceptable. 

“We value all of our staff and it is only right that we call out poor behaviour when we see it.

“Judging from the feedback we have received on the article, our staff agree.”