Everything you want to know about SMCR

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The FCA’s Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR) aims to raise standards of conduct, improve culture and increase accountability within financial services firms. The regime has been in place for banks and dual regulated firms since March 2016, and is now set to be implemented for the majority of FCA solo regulated firms from 9 December 2019.

SMCR implementation will require firms to look at all areas of their business; from strategy, governance and reporting lines, to product design, operational policies and procedures, recruitment and line management. However successful implementation will also necessitate firms going beyond simply revising existing policies; senior level sponsorship will be vital, and firms will need to ensure they have done all they can both to embed the specific changes required by the regime but also the cultural changes involved.

This is likely to be a significant task. Juggling a project of this scale alongside an already heavy ‘business as usual’ load isn’t easy. To help you navigate HR and other regulatory frameworks, we’ve put together a SMCR toolkit. Using it will streamline your preparation. We can also help you think about conduct risk, and how to shape the right culture for good customer outcomes and compliance.

The countdown to 9 December:

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