The Senior Managers and Certification Regime - HR impact - are you up to speed?

Whilst regulatory requirements already exist in respect of the provision of references for firms subject to the Approved Persons Regime, the SMCR strengthens and extends these. The SMCR introduces new requirements for firms to:

• request a reference from all previous employers in the past six years for people applying to perform senior manager functions and significant harm functions under the certification regime;
• use a mandated form of regulatory reference aimed at preventing the recycling of inpiduals with poor conduct records between firms; and
• update references where new significant information comes to light.

For those firms already subject to the SMCR the new rules have thrown up a number of questions and issues, including:

• Does a firm have to provide a reference in the regulated form when it has already agreed a form of reference under the terms of a settlement agreement?
• What constitutes disciplinary action for the purposes of a regulatory reference?
• Should an inpidual have the right of reply if a firm intends to update a reference given about them?

We will consider these, amongst others, during our forthcoming webinar.

The FCA introduced new rules on whistleblowing in September 2016, aimed at creating a culture within firms where inpiduals feel confident to challenge poor practice and behaviour. Under the new rules, compulsory on firms subject to the SMCR, firms must strengthen policies and procedures on whistleblowing and appoint a senior manager to take responsibility for overseeing these policies. The new rules also provided non-binding guidance for firms not subject to the SMCR at the time, but which will become binding on them with the extension of that regime. Our webinar on 14 June will consider what practical steps firms will need to take to ensure that they are ready to comply with these rules and what we have learned since their introduction in 2016.

There is still time to register for this webinar as well as the other forthcoming webinars in this series that are scheduled to take place in September and October, further details of which are set out below. If you would like more details on how to register, please click here.

CMS Employment Team

Regulatory notifications and breach reporting

In this session, we will look at reporting requirements in relation to new and existing authorisations, how and when to deal with breach notifications and steps to take on resignation and cessation of registrations.

Date: Tuesday 18 September 2018 at 12:15 - 13:00 (UK time)

The impact of the SMCR on exits

Looking at regulatory compliance at the end of the employment relationship, we will give some practical tips for navigating exits including the issues to consider around settlement terms and in relation to handover arrangements.

Date: Wednesday 24 October 2018 at 12:15 - 13:00 (UK time)