In October 2015, HM Treasury announced its intention to extend the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) to all sectors of the financial services industry.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published proposals to extend the SM&CR to almost all regulated firms. The new regime will essentially replace the Approved Persons Regime.
The aim of the new regime is to reduce harm to consumers and strengthen market integrity by making individuals more accountable for their conduct and competence. As part of this, the SM&CR aims to:
- encourage a culture of staff at all levels taking personal responsibility for their actions.
- make sure firms and staff clearly understand and can demonstrate where responsibility lies.
The FCA proposes three parts to the SM&CR:
- Five Conduct Rules that will apply to all financial services staff at FCA authorised firms. This simple set of rules means that individuals must act with integrity, act with due care, skill and diligence, b