Browse all articles across people aspects of regulation and people development within UK financial services
After months of speculation and delays, the CP for the extension of the Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SMCR) has finally been published. The question is, did we get what we were expecting or were there any surprises?
The FCA has issued two consultation papers on their proposals to extend the Senior Manager and Certification regimes across the financial services industry. The first paper covers most of the firms for whom the regulations will be new.
Firms should have a culture that is both generic to the industry that we work in, and specific to the firm itself. But how is culture defined?
The Insurance Distribution Directive (not to be confused with the Initial Disclosure Document!) will replace the Insurance Mediation Directive (IMD) which was introduced in 2005. The IMD was designed to enhance consumer protection and promote competition between insurance firms across the European Union.
Just because… as an industry do we never learn? We did exactly the same with the Retail Distribution Review, RDR … thought the government would overturn the requirements, so didn’t do anything about it until the last minute.
Since 2013 and the introduction of the FCA there has clearly been a greater emphasis on ensuring staff are competent. We have already seen the implementation of the SM&CR in 2016 and the extension of the Conduct Rules as they apply to all other staff (except ancillary) as of March this year.
In October 2016, the CII announced that it was replacing AF3 – an old favourite, and introducing two new AF exam subjects: AF7 and AF8. It’s all change when it comes to the CII pension exams.
Jeff Abbott looks at the increased accountability regulations focusing on the certification regime and what we need to do to prepare Increased Accountability The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards (PCBS) recommended a number of changes to provide greater precision about individual responsibilities.
Without clear definitions of competence for relevant roles, an appropriate supervisory regime and robust record keeping it is difficult to see how a firm can meet the requirements for certifying those employees who are within the scope of the extended Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SMCR).
The Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) is a great opportunity for the HR profession to truly be part of the senior management team within financial institutions, but it undoubtedly raises new challenges and indeed legitimate concerns for many, writes Neil Herbert, Director of T&C software firm HRComply.
The good news is that the mortgage market outlook for 2014 is positively positive! Recent figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders for lending in October 2013 shows a 24% year on year growth from an estimated £170 billion this year to £195 billion next year, and £206 billion in 2015.
It seems that across the wider Financial Services industry there is a significant surge in interest in the T&C function.
