FCA announces changes to streamline senior managers regime

The FCA and PRA have announced reforms to the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) which it says will make it easier for firms to comply, as well as reducing costs.

The changes, which come as the first phase of a multi-stage package of reform from the government and regulators, will "maintain the core principle of senior leader accountability", but benefit firms by giving them more time to submit senior manager applications when there has been an unexpected or temporary change.

The changes will also remove the need to certify people to hold multiple overlapping functions, which the FCA says will reduce the total number of certification roles required by around 15%, and make only larger, more complex firms meet enhanced standards, by raising many of the enhanced firm thresholds by 30%.

The regulators say the reforms will help to streamline annual checks to certify individuals as ‘fit and proper’, help firms to better understand the definition of certain senior management roles, and allow more time to report updates to senior manager responsibilities.

In addition, the amendments will increase how long criminal record checks for senior manager applications are valid for, prior to application submission. 

The government’s further changes to the regime, published in its consultation response, include removing the Certification Regime, which applies to less senior roles, from legislation. The Government also proposes giving more flexibility to the regulators to further reduce the number of senior management functions (SMFs) which require pre-approval. 

The regulators plan to consult on wider changes, taking advantage of any increased legislative freedom later in the year as part of the Leeds reforms, to halve the SM&CR’s regulatory burden on firms.

Lucy Rigby, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said: “The UK has some of the highest standards for financial sector governance in the world. They protect consumers, strengthen market integrity and are emulated internationally, helping make our financial services sector one of the great jewels in our economic crown.

“We are committed to preserving those high standards — while making regulation simpler and easier to navigate. By working with regulators to streamline the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, we are cutting unnecessary complexity, halving the administrative burden, and building a simpler, faster and more competitive system.” 

Sarah Pritchard, deputy chief executive at the FCA, commented: “These joint reforms will keep consumers and markets protected while making the regime more proportionate. We’ve also used our current powers to streamline the regime now, so firms can benefit before future legislation unlocks even more efficiencies.”

David Bailey, executive director for prudential policy at the PRA, added: "The SM&CR plays an important role in ensuring accountability in the provision of financial services, but it is right that we work to ensure it is well-targeted and efficient. Today’s reforms are an important first step in allowing firms to focus on what matters most, and we will continue to deliver further improvements to the regime as part of the wider reforms being made by the government.”