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ARTICLE · 27 NOVEMBER 2020

Senior Managers And Certification Regime

Hill Dickinson
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In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, parliament and banking regulators took measures to update and improve the Approved Persons Regime

United KingdomFinance and Banking
Deepak Purushothaman
Deepak Purushothaman
Elizabeth Finnie
Elizabeth Finnie

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, parliament and banking regulators took measures to update and improve the Approved Persons Regime (APR) and to replace them with a new set of rules that would be more targeted at senior managers and encourage responsibility at an individual level. That process led to the creation of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) which replaced the APR on 9 December 2019 and changed the way FCA-regulated firms operate and engage with the regulator. The intention of the SM&CR is to enable firms and regulators to hold individuals to account by encouraging staff members to take responsibility for their roles and actions.

There are some key differences between the APR and SM&CR that regulated firms should be aware of. The SM&CR:

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