FCA Investigations and Enforcement: A Guide to Managing Regulatory Action

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has made it clear in its FCA Mission: Approach to Enforcement, that it does not believe that increasingly severe penalties and sanctions are enough to prevent and reduce serious misconduct and it must increase the likelihood of detection. As a consequence, firms may find themselves subject to an investigation where there is any suspicion of wrongdoing even if the outcome clears them of any breach.

While the FCA is keen to avoid a “culture of fear,” the introduction and extension of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR) imposes personal accountability and liability on a much wider group with significant personal implications for those involved.

This Summit will feature a keynote address from Mark Steward, Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA who will provide much needed guidance and clarity on how you can reduce the likelihood of facing regulatory action and mitigate the impact of it on your organisation and senior managers. It will address the tools available to you when faced with enforcement action including the latest focus resolution procedures allowing you to challenge the severity of the penalty while admitting liability.;

Partner Melanie Ryan will speak on "Developments in Combating Money Laundering and Financial Crime."

Other key areas to be covered include:

• How can you create a heatmap of the areas of greatest risk?
• What are the complexities of cross-border and multi-regulator investigations?
• How will the SMCR impact enforcement action?
• What impact does culture and conduct have on the FCA’s approach to enforcement?
• What are the key elements in managing an investigation, in particular bullet-proofing the data gathering process?