Conduct and Accountability in Financial Services: A Practical Guide, 2nd ed

Stacey English, Susannah Hammond

ISBN: 9781526529060

Published: July 2026

Format: Paperback

Language: English

Publisher: Bloomsbury Professional

Description

Now fully revised for its second edition, this practical guide provides comprehensive, expert guidance on implementing and complying with the UK's Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SM&CR). It works as both a rulebook companion and a guide to regulatory expectations, with an in-depth look at the implications of the global focus on culture and conduct risk. The second edition has been fully updated to reflect the post-pandemic hybrid working environment, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, the new Consumer Duty, the impact of Brexit, and the growing regulatory focus on cryptoassets and AML/sanctions against the backdrop of the continuing conflict in Ukraine.

Key Features

Practical, step-by-step guidance for mapping Senior Manager Functions and certifying staff under SM&CR across banks, insurers, and now almost all UK financial services firms. An expanded chapter on managing compliance in a post-pandemic hybrid working environment, addressing the heightened regulatory focus on remote and flexible work. Direct analysis of how the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 and the new Consumer Duty affect day-to-day SM&CR obligations, with practical steps for embedding both into existing compliance frameworks.

Coverage

Context and drivers for the accountability regime; SM&CR as it applies to banks and large investment firms; SM&CR for insurers; extension of SM&CR to almost all financial services firms; key roles in embedding and overseeing SM&CR; practical risk mitigation and practical challenges to overcome; the role of culture and conduct risk; other areas where personal liability can arise; enforcement; overarching principles for managing personal regulatory risk; regulatory relationship management; technology; and an overview of related global developments.

About the Authors

Stacey English has over 25 years' experience in financial services regulation and technology, including as a former UK regulator (now the FCA) and as a risk and compliance practitioner in global banks and insurers. She led regulatory intelligence for Thomson Reuters for more than a decade and is currently director of regulatory intelligence at Theta Lake. She is a Chartered Certified Accountant and an honorary fellow of Cambridge Judge Business School.

Susannah Hammond has more than 25 years of wide-ranging compliance, regulatory, and risk experience in international and UK financial services, including senior compliance roles at S.G. Warburg, HBOS, GE Capital, and Caspian Securities. She was senior regulatory intelligence expert at Thomson Reuters and is now senior regulatory intelligence expert at Theta Lake. She is a chartered accountant and was the inaugural host of the Compliance Clarified podcast.

Table of Contents

1. Context and Drivers for the Accountability Regime
2. Specifics of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime as it Applies to Banks and Large Investment Firms
3. Specifics of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime for Insurers
4. Extension of SM&CR to (Almost) all Financial Services Firms
5. Key roles in Embedding and Overseeing the SM&CR
6. Practical Aspects of Better Risk Mitigation
7. Practical Challenges to Overcome
8. Role of Culture and Conduct Risk
9. Other Areas Personal Liability Can Arise
10. Enforcement
11. Overarching Principles for How to Manage Personal Regulatory Risk
12. Regulatory Relationship Management
13. Technology
14. Overview of Related Global Developments
Appendices

Why buy this book?

This second edition is a must-read for staff in UK financial services firms, professional associations, industry bodies, regulators, academics, and advisers to financial services organisations. It is one of the few single-volume references that brings together the practical mechanics of SM&CR with the latest regulatory developments — FSMA 2023, Consumer Duty, Brexit, cryptoassets, and AML/sanctions — making it a genuinely current working tool rather than a static rulebook summary.

Keywords

SM&CR, Senior Managers and Certification Regime, financial services compliance, conduct risk, culture risk, FCA regulation, banking compliance, Consumer Duty, AML sanctions, cryptoassets regulation, compliance officer guide

Target Audience

Compliance officers, Financial regulators, Risk managers, Senior managers and certified staff in banks and insurers, In-house legal and compliance counsel

Genre

Financial regulation, Compliance, Corporate Governance

Q&A

Where can I buy Conduct and Accountability in Financial Services: A Practical Guide, 2nd ed?
You can order it directly from CLNZ Books, with worldwide delivery.

What is the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR)?
SM&CR is the UK regulatory framework that holds senior managers personally accountable for the areas of a financial services firm under their control, and requires firms to certify staff in specified roles as fit and proper.

How does the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 affect SM&CR?
FSMA 2023 reshapes parts of the UK's post-Brexit regulatory architecture, and this guide analyses how those changes interact with existing SM&CR obligations for firms and individuals.

What does the Consumer Duty mean for compliance teams?
The Consumer Duty sets a higher standard of care for firms dealing with retail customers, and this guide explains how it intersects with SM&CR accountability structures.

Why does culture and conduct risk matter to regulators?
Regulators increasingly treat culture and conduct as a core prudential concern, since patterns of misconduct can materially affect a firm's stability and reputation, not just its compliance record.

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