Under section 166 of the Financial Services and Markets Act, the FCA has the power to require a report by a “Skilled Person” on specified matters related to a firm’s systems, controls, and failings. According to the FCA there are more than 50 such requests in any one year by the FCA.

“Skilled Persons” are independent persons/firms with the skills necessary to prepare a report on the regulatory matters that the FCA is concerned with in each case. The FCA maintains an approved “Skilled Persons Panel” for eight different regulatory areas (eg, client assets, financial crime, prudential) made up of well-known firms specialising and pre-approved by the FCA. Each firm on the Panel has gone through a very rigorous and stringent evaluation process by the FCA, and therefore the FCA feel more comfortable when firms choose Skilled Persons form that Panel.

Complyport is on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s Skilled Person Panel.

As a member of the FCA’s Skilled Persons Panel, Complyport has a proven track record of successfully handling various s166 assignments. These assignments cover a wide range of areas such as financial crime, governance, client assets, prudential matters, controls, and risk management frameworks. With our expertise and experience, Complyport is ideally positioned to be appointed as the Skilled Person responsible for preparing the required report in accordance with the Draft Notice Requirement (DRN) outlined in section 166(3)(a) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA).

We have a thorough understanding of the requirements relating to regulated firms, in particular those relating to, Conduct of Business (COBS), Threshold Conditions (COND), Systems and Controls Sourcebook (SYSC) including SM&CR, Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR), Market Abuse Regulations (MAR) the UK legal and regulatory requirements regarding AML and CTF and the Supervision sourcebook (“SUP”). We understand the importance of robust management and conduct risk controls within regulated firms.

Over the years we have also carried out regulatory compliance and financial crime advisory assurance reviews for a wide variety of client firms in the retail and wholesale markets including:

• firms involved in prime brokerage,
• execution,
• investment management,
• fund management,
• custodial services,
• payment services and digital asset providers,
• lending and consumer credit,
• and more.

Complyport Approach

With the benefit of both our wide-ranging industry experience and extensive regulatory experience, Complyport is able to approach any Section 166 engagement with an open mind, and in a practical and pragmatic manner.  While the type of projects we take on vary, the key values of our approach are: