Complying with SMCR during coronavirus

Acknowledging the unusual pressures that financialinstitutions have faced this year, the regulators have sought to uphold the objectives of the Senior Managers and CertificationRegime while also providing guidance and some flexibility. Charlotte Hill and Daniel Hirschfield report onfirms’ governance arrangements amid the Covid-19 crisis.

Charlotte Hillis a partner and head of the financial services regulatory group at Taylor Wessing in London.Daniel Hirschfieldis a senior professional support lawyer for the team. Contact them onc.hill@taylorwessing.comandd.hirschfield@taylorwessing.com.

Perhaps only Nostradamus could have predicted that within months of the application of the SMCR to the majority of solo-regulated firms in December 2019, firms and their senior managers would have to wrestle with their greatest ever challenge: a global pandemic and the financial crisis that has ensued.