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 French Anticorruption Agency (FAA) made an unsuccessful attempt to take its first enforcement this July as reported by a JD Supra news alert. The move followed the regulator’s three-month audit of an undisclosed company's corporate compliance program.  

Recently, we held a live webinar with special guest Susan Divers from LRN to get her take on the expanded guidance released 30 April, 2019. We thought we’d pick her brain further on this guidance and on high-performing compliance programs.

It’s a tricky thing to understand what a high-performing compliance program actually looks like. Aside from activities and checklists and even anonymous tips, a high-performing compliance program must include the human element. Do we, as a company, believe we’re always doing the right thing? Because in the end, that is what compliance is all about.

We’ve been fortunate to work with and have at MCO some of the most respected leaders in the compliance space. And from them, we’ve crafted a few best practices for high-performing compliance programs that everyone can easily put into place.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued an edition of Market Watch this month that shares the regulator’s concerns and findings about control of access to inside information. In the publication, the FCA highlighted the conviction of Fabiana Abdel-Malek, a former Compliance officer in the London branch of a major investment bank.