FF News Logo
Tuesday, September 16, 2025
ITC Vegas

Increased Personal Liability has been good for the UK Financial Services

The Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SMCR) has already had a positive impact on the financial services sector, according to a survey of nearly 200 senior financial services executives polled by Duff & Phelps. 55% believe the SMCR has positively affected the banking and alternative investment communities, whilst just 15% say it has had a negative impact.

With the first anniversary of the regime on March 7, firms have seen a real change in culture over the last year in what might now be considered a watershed regulation for the UK financial services sector.

Monique Melis, Managing Director and Service Line Head, Regulatory Consulting comments on the findings:

“The threat of personal sanctions is ensuring compliance functions put their duties before other considerations. Where managers fail to support them, they themselves may face penalties. We have seen SMR start to change the way compliance departments budget. They are not just counting compliance costs, but the costs of hiring a replacement compliance officer or interim staff, for regulatory penalties and remediation in cases of failure, and for their own personal liability if things go wrong. In short, this regime may have been a game-changer after all. Almost a decade after the financial crisis, cultural change in financial services is finally starting to happen.”

 

  1. AI-Powered E-commerce, Stablecoins and Local APMs: Emerging Trends Headline EBANX’s Payments Summit in Mexico Read more
  2. Second Day of Money20/20 Middle East Unveils Next-Gen Solutions at the Region’s Largest Ever Fintech Gathering Read more
  3. United Gulf Financial Services Joins The Hashgraph Association and Exponential Science Foundation Adding $1M to Hedera Africa Hackathon Pool Prize Read more
  4. Payhawk Transforms Spending Experience for Businesses With Four Enterprise-Ready AI Agents Read more
  5. Alipay+ to Launch in Saudi Arabia, Facilitating Cross-Border Mobile Payments for Local Merchants Read more
Sibos | FFNews