FCA sets out changes on how firms asked to confirm compliance
New guidance on how firms formally confirm that they are complying with regulations will be issued by the FCA.
The regulator has published a letter this morning about attestations from FCA director of supervision Clive Adamson explaining changes that are to be made following concerns that were raised with him.
Data will be published on a quarterly basis and the governance processes will be strengthened, he said.
The number of attestations and the transparency surrounding them was a matter of concern by Graham Beale, chairman of the FCA Practitioner Panel.
{desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile}
Mr Adamson said in a letter to Mr Beale published today: "To ensure increased consistency in our approach to using attestations and address the risks that you identified, we will issue revised internal guidance and supporting materials available to supervisors, emphasising the importance of clarity and transparency when using attestations.
"We are also strengthening our governance processes around attestations including ensuring that all attestations are signed off at head of department level and that they will be reviewed by a central quality assurance function similar to the one used for skilled person reviews.
"We are also changing the way we record and track attestations. Going forward, we are looking to publish data on attestations on a quarterly basis, similar to the information we publish on skilled person reviews."
Mr Beale had told him in a previous letter, also published today: "Although we understand the underlying reasons for the FCA using this supervisory tool, we were concerned at their increasing use, and had misgivings about the reliance on senior managers attesting that they will take action, as well as the governance and monitoring arrangements around this.
"Our report to the board last month highlighted that we believed the tool was in danger of skewing prioritisation of risk at firms, and was leading to much more discussion about terms of the attestation (including requiring legal support) than any party felt was helpful."