MyComplianceOffice Blog

Jonathon Davidson, executive director of supervision, retail and authorizations for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is urging financial firms to consider the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR) as "a positive thing … as opposed to just a compliance thing which in a sense is constricting." Davidson's viewpoint was expressed as part of an FCA podcast focused on the extension of the SMCR to FCA solo-regulated firms beginning in December 2019. 

The CEO of any financial firm will tell you regulatory compliance is one of their organization’s greatest challenges. The compliance part is easy. Regulators tell a firm what to do. Then they must do it or face often severe legal and financial penalties along with reputational damage. It’s HOW to create and implement effective compliance programs in efficient and affordable ways that presents issues for firms.  

What makes a high impact compliance program? Given the state of many corporate compliance programs, it’s a question we get a lot. Here at MCO, we look at more than just the checklist of activities or the features or even the hotline to report potential violations. Fundamentally, business has shifted from simple checklists to how behavior is being impacted.

The month of June ended what has been one of the most active half-years in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement ever according to Thomas Fox. The attorney recently covered the subject in a JD Supra blog, citing many high-profile cases in 2019 along with the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) revised guidance on evaluating corporate compliance programs.  

On May 7, 2019, U.S. Representative James Himes (D-Conn) introduced the “Insider Trading Prohibition Act,” which would amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, by inserting a new section that defines the elements of criminal insider trading. The bill was passed unanimously in the House Financial Services Committee on May 10.