Featured Analysis

Our core analysis pieces cover the issues firms and Senior Managers raise with us most often.

Regulation and Accountability

The Senior Managers and Certification Regime keeps evolving, from the Consumer Duty to operational resilience to the 2026 reforms to how vacancies are covered. These pieces explain what the changes mean for the people who hold Senior Manager Functions and the firms that appoint them.

• Consumer Duty and the SMF framework
• FCA enforcement trends
• Operational resilience expectations
• The Certification Regime explained
• Conduct Rules training guide
• The 12-week rule for temporary cover

Authorisation and Approvals

Getting a Senior Manager approved is where many appointments slow down. These pieces cover the application, the timetable and the situations where firms need several approvals at once.

• What goes wrong in Form A submissions
• The authorisation journey
• How long an SMF appointment takes
• SMF timing and eligibility questions
• Going directly authorised
• Becoming an Enhanced firm
• Hiring your first Senior Manager
• Group SMF roles

SMF Appointments in Practice

How Senior Manager searches actually run: checking candidates, structuring offers, covering departures and getting the designation right before you start.

• Pre-offer checks for SMF candidates
• Interviewing an SMF candidate
• Structuring an SMF offer
• SMF3 or SMF18?
• Combining Senior Manager roles
• Interim and fractional appointments
• Fractional or full-time compliance officer?
• Your MLRO has resigned: a 30-day plan
• The first 90 days for a new MLRO or compliance officer
• Staffing a section 166 remediation
• SMF succession planning
• Keeping the SMF team after an acquisition
• Writing a Statement of Responsibilities
• Who can be your MLRO or compliance officer?

Boards and Governance

Board-level Senior Managers carry personal accountability for how the board and its committees operate. These pieces cover the questions chairs, nomination committees and company secretaries raise with us.

• Non-executive directors at FCA-regulated firms
• The Consumer Duty board champion
• The whistleblowers’ champion
• NED time commitment and overboarding
• PRA collective suitability
• The chair-CEO chemistry problem
• Diversity and inclusion on regulated boards
• Dual-regulated SMF hiring at banks and building societies

The Finance Team Behind Senior Managers

A Senior Manager can only stand behind the numbers and assessments they’re accountable for if the team beneath them is right. These pieces cover the finance and reporting roles that support compliance officers, MLROs and finance leaders.

• The finance team behind your SMF16/17 holder
• Regulatory reporting: who supports your SMF16 and SMF17
• Financial controllers for FCA-regulated firms
• CASS accountants and client money experience
• Why an SMF2 search should start with a CFO recruiter
• Crypto and digital assets: the finance talent gap

How to Use Our Insights

If You’re Hiring a Senior Manager

Start with the pieces on approvals and appointments in practice. They’ll help you set a realistic timetable, check candidates properly and avoid the mistakes that delay approval. If you’re facing a specific situation, such as a resignation, a skilled person review, an acquisition or a move to Enhanced status, there’s a piece written for it above.

If You’re a Senior Manager or Candidate

The regulation and accountability pieces explain what the regulators expect of you personally, and the board pieces cover the questions non-executives face. If you’re preparing for your first Senior Manager role, read our guides to the fit and proper test and the first 90 days, and browse current roles on our jobs board.

If You Sit on a Board

The boards and governance pieces cover board-level Senior Manager Functions, collective suitability, time commitment and the champion roles regulators expect boards to fill. Our free board skills matrix template is a practical place to start.

What We’re Watching

The areas we expect to write about most over the coming months include further changes to the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, including the Certification Regime; how firms are evidencing Consumer Duty outcomes to their boards; operational resilience and third-party risk; the crypto-asset regime as firms move into full authorisation; and the effect of all of this on demand for compliance officers, MLROs and risk leaders. If there’s a development you’d like us to cover, let us know.

Pay and the Market

Pay for Senior Managers varies widely by designation, firm size, sector and location. Our SMF and compliance salary guide sets out current benchmarks and day rates, kept up to date as the market moves, and our earlier piece on what SMF roles actually pay looks at the drivers behind the numbers.

Insights, Knowledge Centre and Designation Guides

Our content is organised so you can find the right level of detail quickly:

Free Templates

Several of our Insights link to free Word templates you can download and adapt:

• Statement of Responsibilities template
• Responsibilities Map template
• Fit and proper assessment template
• Regulatory reference checklist
• Board skills matrix template

Podcast and Events

We also share what we learn through our podcast, SMF Unlocked, and free online briefings and candidate clinics. Visit the media centre for every podcast platform and press coverage, and the events page for upcoming dates.

Frequently Asked Questions

How often do you publish new Insights?

Regularly, usually weekly. New articles also appear on our blog.

Is this regulatory or legal advice?

No. Our Insights are general analysis based on our recruitment experience. For advice on a specific situation, speak to your compliance team or a regulatory lawyer.

Can you write about a specific topic?

Yes. If there’s an SMF or SMCR question you’d like covered, get in touch.