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]]>The FCA is also intending to consult on extending the deadline to 31 March 2021, for the following areas which were due to be in force by 9 December 2020. The FCA has said it intends to finalise its policy as soon as possible.
Although the deadline for certification has been agreed the FCA has said that firms should continue with their programmes of work in this area and, if firms are able to certify staff earlier than 31 March 2021, they should do so. On the other hand, firms should not wait to remove staff who are not fit and proper from certified roles.
Although Senior Managers and Certification Staff needed to have been trained and be abiding by the Conduct Rules from 9 December 2019, firms were originally given 12 months from that date to put in processes to comply with the training and conduct rules reporting requirements and to train their other staff on the Conduct Rules. It is intended that the deadline be extended to 31 March 2021.
With Conduct Rules training, the FCA has emphasised that Senior Managers must ensure that Conduct Rules training is effective, so that staff are aware of the Conduct Rules and understand how they apply to them in their jobs. The FCA will publish more guidance about its expectations on the Conduct Rules in due course.
With regard to submitting details of Certification Staff for the new Directory, which was originally to be in place by 9 December 2020, the FCA has said it will still publish details of certified employees of solo firms starting from 9 December 2020 on the Financial Services Register. Where firms are able to provide information on their certification staff to the FCA before March 2021, they should do so.
As the Certification Regime and reporting of Directory Persons do not apply to Benchmark Administrators there will be no delay in rules applying to them. Benchmark Administrators have until December 2021 to train non-Senior Manager staff in the Conduct Rules.
Should you need any guidance or assistance in dealing with matters relating to compliance with FCA or related regulatory matters in general, please contact:
https://www.fca.org.uk/news/news-stories/extension-smcr-implementation-periods-solo-regulated-firms
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]]>The post FCA CP17/37 Industry Codes of Conduct and Discussion on Principle 5 Market Conduct first appeared on Complyport - Your Trusted Partner in Governance, Risk, Compliance & Technology .
]]>| Of relevance to: | Authorised firms, particularly those already subject to the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, including banks, building societies, credit unions and certain large investment banks |
| Key date: | Comments to FCA by 5 February 2018 |
It is to be made clear to all authorised firms and their staff that the FCA expects good conduct in all financial markets and activities, not just those covered by regulatory rules and principles.
The proposals in CP17/37 follow several high-profile cases of serious misconduct in unregulated wholesale financial markets by individuals working at authorised firms, and the development of a number of new codes of conduct to cover some of those activities and raise standards.
The CP17/37 proposals will also be relevant to a wider group of firms as the FCA is currently consulting on extending its Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR) to all authorised firms when HM Treasury sets the implementation date (likely to be in the second half of 2018). The SMCR does not apply to firms which are not authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
Limited Scope Firms will typically have fewer Senior Management Functions than firms in the core SMCR, maintaining the exemption for firms which already have exemptions under the current Approved Persons Regime.
The FCA are concerned that failure of authorised firms and their staff to meet appropriate standards of conduct in unregulated markets may harm broader confidence in the operation of regulated financial markets.
All authorised firms are therefore invited to comment on the FCA proposal to extend the application of FCA Principle 5 – A firm must observe proper standards of market conduct – to unregulated activities.
The FCA have advised they may take enforcement action in cases of serious and egregious misconduct leading to harm or potential harm, particularly where they consider the firm or individual has not adhered to the SMCR rules and/or FCA-recognised industry codes of conduct that, in their view, set out proper standards of market conduct for unregulated markets and activities.
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