UK. Pressure from the regulator has mounted in 2019
Financial advisers have faced shifting regulatory sands over the past 12 months, with the Financial Conduct Authority training its focus on a number of core areas.
From boosting consumer protection, to placing greater responsibility on individual senior staff, we will look at the major regulatory themes of 2019 impacting the financial advice industry.
SMCR Over the past year we have seen companies working hard to ensure they are fully prepared for the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, which has covered all solo-regulated companies since December 9.
The new rules, which seek to shift accountability to senior staff, are touted as the regulator’s flagship piece of regulation as the UK exits the EU, signalling the direction of regulatory travel as we step into a new decade. Our observation on the ground is that companies have been struggling to meet the regulation’s certification requirements. Specifically, we are seeing that many companies do not have the training and competence infrastructure in place to certify advisers, and are having difficulty identifying which staff need to be certified.
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