Consultation: Reforming the Senior Managers & Certification Regime
Read the full outcome
Detail of outcome
This document sets out the government’s planned reforms to the Senior Managers and Certification Regime. These include:
- Removing rigid statutory requirements around certification, enabling the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority to consider whether and how a more proportionate, risk based framework should operate through their rulebooks.
- Simplifying senior manager approval processes, ensuring regulators can pre-approve certain senior roles, and use notification where appropriate.
- Reducing administrative requirements set in legislation, including around Statements of Responsibilities and Conduct Rules processes, while retaining regulators’ powers to set standards and intervene where concerns arise.
Original consultation
Consultation description
The Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SM&CR) was introduced in 2016 to increase individual accountability within the financial services sector, following the financial crisis. Today, the regime covers almost all firms regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).
In 2023, the previous government launched a Call for Evidence into the performance, effectiveness and scope of the regime. Responses detailed concerns about the compliance burdens and frictions the SM&CR can cause, especially when appointing new executives. The government is now consulting on legislative changes that aim to reduce regulatory burdens imposed by the SM&CR, without undermining its overall effect to maintain high standards in the financial services sector. It also provides a summary of the responses to the 2023 Call for Evidence.
Documents
Updates to this page
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Consultation outcome added.
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First published.
Update history
2026-04-22 10:00
Consultation outcome added.
2025-07-15 10:20
First published.