Senior Managers and Certification Regime

The Senior Managers and Certification Regime (“SMCR”) currently applies to banking and insurance firms and will be extended on 9 December 2019 to all FCA solo-regulated firms. The FCA expects SMCR to drive cultural change across the financial services sector. It represents a step change in the way financial services firms are regulated and governed.

Our specialist team of lawyers and governance experts has extensive experience of advising banks, insurers and FCA solo-regulated firms on SMCR. We have a wealth of market knowledge and a proven track record of working with management, risk, compliance, legal and HR professionals to deliver successful SMCR projects. We can provide a range of support, including:

Project Planning. We can provide sample project plans; help to identify which documents you will need to amend and create; and advise on the timing and process of implementation.

Responsibilities Mapping. We can help you to define the management functions and activities in your firm; and to identify and allocate senior manager functions, certification functions, non-senior manager non-executive director functions, and other conduct rules staff. We have template statements of responsibilities and management responsibilities maps that can be customised to your firm’s requirements.

Policies and procedures. We have a suite of template policies and procedures, which draw on the lessons we have learned advising banks and insurers on SMCR. These include a fitness and propriety policy; F&P declaration; F&P certificate; a handover policy; a conduct rule breach notification policy; sample clauses for member terms, employment contracts, offer letters and NED appointment letters; provisions for employee handbooks and settlement agreements; a regulatory reference policy; and amendments to record retention policies.

Training. We can deliver a range of SMCR-related training sessions, including: introductory training for project teams; training for senior managers and direct reports on the duty of responsibility and conduct rules; conduct rules training for certified persons and other conduct rules staff; line manager training on conducting fitness and propriety assessments; and training on whistleblowing and culture.

Conversion. We can assist with the process for converting individuals to SMCR senior managers, advising on timing and completing application and notification forms and accompanying documents.

Governance and data protection advice. Our specialist team includes governance and data protection experts, so we can help review your firm’s governance structure and / or advise on the data protection aspects of SMCR.

SMCR toolkit. We have developed an online SMCR portal to help firms manage SMCR implementation and ongoing compliance. The portal is available on a subscription basis or as part of an SMCR instruction. If you would like to find out more about the toolkit, please contact David Sims or Mathew Rutter, or watch the below video. 

Learn more about our SMCR Portal for Solo-Regulated Firms