On March 2, 2016, the PRA and the FCA published final rules removing certain requirements under the Senior Manager and Certification Regimes. The regulators consulted earlier this year on the proposed amendments which are necessary as a result of the proposed changes to the regime that have been proposed by the UK Government, including extending the regime to all financial services firms, removing the obligation on a firm to notify the PRA or FCA when it knows or suspects that a senior manager or certified person has failed to comply with the conduct rules and replacing the presumption of responsibility with a duty of responsibility. It remains to be seen whether Parliament will approve the equivalent changes that have been proposed by the Government to legislation. An amending Order, published in December 2015, stops the above-mentioned notification requirement and the presumption of responsibility from coming into force on March 7, 2016—the date when the remainder of the new Regime will come into effect. The regulators' rules and forms have been amended to reflect this position. The PRA has also made changes to the definition of 'significant risk taker' which sets the parameters of its Certification Regime. The amendment aims to align the definition of SRT with a 'material risk taker' under the Remuneration rules.
The FCA Policy Statement and final rules are available at: http://www.fca.org.uk/static/documents/policy-statements/ps16-06.pdf and the PRA Policy Statement and final rules are available at: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/pra/Documents/publications/ps/2016/ps916.pdf.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
