WHY USE GOVERNANCE CONNECT'S WEBSITE

Human nature likes rules, with rules we know where we stand and what is expected of us.  However, as individuals we also want flexibility.  As a result, the regulatory environment also needs to be flexible, which is the idea behind “principle-based regulation”.  The FCA therefore does not want to just see the rules copied, but to understand how firms have arrived at how they run and monitor their business and also how they deliver compliant products and services. 

 

Firms need to be able to adapt and grow within the UK (changing) regulatory framework.  There are the rules, but it can often take time for ideas and businesses to adapt and operate within the principles as opposed to being forced to implement a hard and fast rule, unless the FCA gives up and just says “do it”. 

 

So, in essence that is what this website is here to do, to show firms what good can look like, give some ideas on how to get there, and highlight a couple of regulatory requirements.

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It all starts and ends from having a governance framework in place and an ability to at least be able to identify potential risks and then intervene before they become issues or create conduct risks and poor customer outcomes. 

 

It is ok to have risks; it just comes down to what procedures (controls) a firm has in place to identify them and take action quickly (conduct risk identification).  Mistakes will happen, the regulator is fully aware of that, but it comes down to how a firm mitigates those mistakes and did it have a framework in place to identify them in the first place and take action as soon as possible?  Even report them to the regulator first, before the regulator finds them.

 

The aim of the material on this website is to give firms and individuals ideas on how their own governance can be enhanced and prove to the regulator that they are at least on the right path.