Worksmart Blog

Moneybarn began life in 1992 after recognising the need to help everyday people get the vehicle finance they need to live their lives, even if they’ve had difficulties getting loans elsewhere. Applying a clear focus on fair and responsible lending helped Moneybarn grow steadily until, in 2014, it was acquired by Provident Financial Group. Since then, growth has accelerated with progressive year-on-year increase in headcount.

‘Final call for SM&CR’ – Are you sure your preparations are taking you in the right direction?

Read “Rising to the challenge of the Certification Regime”, by Julie Pardy to help ensure your SM&CR journey ends up at the right destination!

45 individuals interviewed across 15 Banking institutions

In what has been described by the FCA as an SM&CR “Stocktaking Report” in the Banking Sector, the most recent FCA publication gives us an insight into what they found across the sector.

It is always interesting to learn from those that have gone before. In 2015, when planning for the introduction of new Senior Managers Regime (SM&CR), most banks at the time focused their efforts almost entirely on their plans for the Senior Manager Regime (SMR) aspect and tackled the challenges of Certification separately. 

It is always interesting to learn from those that have gone before. In 2015, when planning for the introduction of new Senior Managers Regime (SM&CR), most banks at the time focused their efforts almost entirely on their plans for the Senior Manager Regime (SMR) aspect and tackled the challenges of Certification separately. 

Literature and philosophy is laden with theories and principles that rely on seven pillars. In this blog, I won’t attempt to reconsider the seven pillars of wisdom, life or anything that highbrow, (believe me, it wouldn’t be that insightful a piece!). Instead I will focus on something far more down to earth, but no less important for those given the responsibility of preparing an organisation for the implementation and management of SM&CR and its associated records.

When firms first start planning for the implementation of the new SM&CR regime, they seldom prioritise the ongoing challenge and risks associated with how well systems and processes will support things after it goes live and becomes business as usual. The challenges of managing a consistent approach across the various workflows; the difficulty of joining together what are often disjointed or siloed processes; how to ensure a robust and consistent approach to the related procedures across the firm, and crucially; future-proofing of  your systems and processes and maintaining an comprehensive and accessible audit trail.