There has never been more of a need for HR to understand Financial Services regulatory requirements.

Whether your firm want to believe it or not the Financial Services sector is all about people. Your HR department oversees recruitment, training and appraisal processes, and has a key role in your firm’s remuneration strategy. From the regulator’s perspective, this gives you a unique position in the management of people risk.

SMCR has meant there is much more of a focus on individuals holding Senior Management Functions. With the possibility of significant fines for both individuals and firms, it’s down to your department to make sure you hire the right people in the right roles.

People risk is high on the regulator’s agenda. And it’s much more common for Heads of HR to be interviewed on supervisory visits.

The regulator is looking for you to demonstrate best practice in:

• The appropriateness of Senior Management hires
• Adherence to SMCR requirements
• Structures, reporting lines and job descriptions
• Remuneration strategies
• Recruitment processes
• Training and competence programmes

Protect your firm (and workforce) – The regulator can impose significant fines on both the company and the individual if a member of staff does not perform their role adequately. Avoid
this by making sure you know exactly who should be doing what.

Promote better working relationships – You have to work more closely with compliance staff. By improving your knowledge of people risk, you can better collaborate and communicate with other functions within your firm.

Encourage best practice – You’ll help create a culture of good governance. And by introducing watertight due diligence processes and recruitment systems you’ll make sure your firm avoids regulatory fines and bad press.

Raise the profile of your department – Ever changing regulation gives HR departments a greater role in business strategy. Embedding people risk in the firm’s strategy will help your team add value to the business’s commercial success.