The regulator proposed that individuals whose roles significant impact customers or firms will have to be verified for their ‘fitness, skill and proprietary’ at least one a year.
The FCA’s Senior Managers & Certification Regime will impact those with customer-facing roles as well as their managers.
The regulator proposed that individuals whose roles significantly impact customers or firms will have to be verified by firms for their ‘fitness, skill and proprietary’ at least one a year.
In addition theFCA said those covered by the regime must act with integrity, due care, skill and diligence, be open and cooperative with regulators, pay due regard to customer interests and treat them fairly, as well as observe proper standards of market conduct.
Jonathan Davidson, executive director of supervision, retail and authorisations at the FCA, said: “The extension of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime is key to driving forward culture change in firms.
“This is about individuals, not just institutions. The new Conduct Rules will ensure that individuals in financial services are held to high standards, and that consumers know what is required of the individuals they deal with.
“The regime will also ensure that Senior Managers are accountable both for their own actions, and for the actions of staff in the business areas that they lead.”
The regulator also reaffirmed its commitment to making the regime proportionate to the size of firms with a ‘core regime’ affecting a minority.
At the other end of the spectrum it pledged to have an ‘enhanced regime’ with more requirements for less than 1% of firms.
The Treasury will set an implementation date for the extended regime but it is expected to take place in 2018.
