We’ve written in detail on this site about what makes a strong SMF16 or SMF17 candidate individually. What we haven’t covered is that a compliance officer or MLRO’s effectiveness depends heavily on who they’re working alongside — the CFO, Finance Director and Financial Controller whose numbers, systems and reporting the SMF16/17 holder relies on every day. Recruiting the compliance function in isolation from the finance function it sits beside is a common and avoidable gap.
Why the Finance-Compliance Relationship Matters This Much
An SMF16 holder’s ability to genuinely oversee the firm’s regulatory compliance depends on the quality and accessibility of financial information flowing to them — accurate management accounts, timely regulatory reporting data, and a Financial Controller or FD who understands why the compliance function needs certain information in a certain form, not just what the numbers say. Similarly, an MLRO’s ability to spot financial crime risk depends heavily on transaction-level financial visibility that a well-run finance function provides as a matter of course, not as a special request.
Where the finance function is weak, under-resourced, or simply unaccustomed to working closely with compliance, even a genuinely capable SMF16 or SMF17 holder is operating with one hand tied — not because of anything they’ve done wrong, but because the information and systems infrastructure around them isn’t giving them what they need.
What a Strong Supporting Finance Function Actually Looks Like
A CFO or FD who treats compliance as a genuine stakeholder
The strongest arrangements we see have a CFO or Finance Director who proactively involves the SMF16/17 holder in financial planning and reporting design, rather than treating compliance requests as an occasional interruption to normal finance work. This is as much a cultural fit question as a technical one — some finance leaders are simply better than others at genuinely partnering with a compliance function rather than viewing it as a separate department with separate concerns.
A Financial Controller who understands regulatory reporting specifically
As we cover in our guide to regulatory reporting behind SMF16/17, the team actually producing the numbers a compliance officer signs off needs genuine technical grounding in what the return is measuring, not just template-level familiarity. A Financial Controller with this specific background makes an SMF16 holder’s job substantially easier and their oversight substantially more credible.
Systems that give compliance real visibility, not just periodic reports
Firms with modern, well-integrated finance systems can give their SMF17 holder genuine, close-to-real-time transaction visibility rather than periodic extracts assembled specially for compliance review. This is increasingly a technology and systems question as much as a people question, and it’s worth firms considering as part of building out the wider finance and compliance team together, rather than as separate projects.
Why Recruiting These Roles Together, Not in Isolation, Produces Better Outcomes
Firms that recruit their CFO, FD or Financial Controller and their SMF16/17 holder as entirely separate, disconnected processes — sometimes months apart, sometimes through completely different recruiters with no coordination — often end up with individually strong hires who simply haven’t been assessed for how well they’ll actually work together. A firm reviewing its finance leadership and its compliance function around the same time benefits from at least some coordination between the two searches, even where they’re run by different specialist practices, so that working style and genuine willingness to collaborate are part of what’s being assessed on both sides.
Where This Sits Across the Group
We focus specifically on the SMF16 and SMF17 designations and the regulatory reporting function underneath them. Our sister practice FD Capital handles the CFO, Finance Director and Financial Controller recruitment that sits alongside those roles — including its dedicated SMCR compliance recruitment practice, which works across both the finance and compliance sides of exactly this relationship. Where a firm is building or refreshing both functions together, coordinating between the two practices from the outset is worth doing explicitly rather than leaving each search to run in isolation.
Related Reading & Services
The finance function that sits alongside your compliance and financial crime team.
SMCR Compliance Recruitment
FD Capital’s practice covering finance and compliance recruitment for regulated firms together.
CFO Executive Recruiters
Permanent, interim and fractional CFO and FD placement for regulated and unregulated firms.
Who Supports Your SMF16/17
Our own guide to the regulatory reporting function behind every compliance officer and MLRO.
Adrian Lawrence FCA — Founder, SMF Capital
Adrian is a Fellow of the ICAEW and holds an ICAEW practising certificate in his own name. He founded FD Capital in 2018 and has since built out Exec Capital, NED Capital and Accountancy Capital alongside SMF Capital, coordinating finance and compliance recruitment across the group where firms are building both functions together. View Adrian’s ICAEW profile.
Building Out Finance and Compliance Together?
Call 0203 137 2496 or email recruitment@smfcapital.co.uk. We’ll coordinate directly with FD Capital where a search touches both sides of the relationship.