On March 23, 2015, the Prudential Regulation Authority published its policy statement and first set of final rules on strengthening individual accountability in banking and insurance. The policy statement implements the new Senior Managers Regime and Certification Regime for UK banks and certain investment firms as well as the Senior Insurance Managers Regime under Solvency II. The new SMR is created to support a change in culture for individuals who are subject to regulatory approval and requires firms to assign a variety of responsibilities to those individuals as well as assess their fitness and propriety regularly. The new Certification Regime will require relevant firms to assess the fitness and propriety of certain individuals of the firm who could cause significant harm to the institution or its customers. The rules include the Prescribed Responsibilities of Senior Managers and the scope of the PRA's Certification Regime. Separately, the PRA and FCA are jointly consulting on proposed plans for extending and tailoring the SMR, Certification Regime and Conduct Rules to UK branches of non-EEA institutions, and this consultation is open until May 25, 2015. The new Senior Managers and Certification Regime will apply from March 7, 2016.
The policy statement is available at: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/pra/Documents/publications/ps/2015/ps315.pdf.
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