The Banking Standards Board (BSB) is today publishing the final good practice guidance on regulatory references. This is in response to the BSB’s consultation published earlier this year.
BSB good practice guidance is intended to help firms implement the regulatory requirements effectively and to a high standard. The guidance provides good practice based on three high-level principles: proportionality, fairness and consistency.
Helen Reeve Morris, Director of Policy, Research and Strategy at the Banking Standards Board commented:
‘Getting regulatory references right matters for both the individual employees and the sector as a whole. The guidance published today is a culmination of two years’ collaborative work with member firms through the BSB’s cross-industry Certification Regime Working Group, as well as a public consultation. It reflects a pooling of industry knowledge and experience and is intended to help firms reference their own policies and procedures against a statement of what ‘good’ looks like built on the guiding principles of proportionality, fairness and consistency.’
The guidance has been developed with a focus on regulatory references in relation to candidates for certification functions in the banking sector. Parts of it may also be relevant to candidates for Senior Management Functions and notified NED functions as well as those in other parts of financial services subject to the Senior Managers and Certification Regime.
Download the Statement of Good Practice 2 – Certification Regime: Regulatory References
This guidance is the fourth item in our suite on good practice guidance for the Certification Regime:
Download the Fitness and Propriety (F&P) Assessment Principles
Download the Supporting guidance: Establishing pass/fail criteria and evidencing the F&P assessment
Notes:
The majority of respondents supported the proposals outlined in the consultation. The feedback we received helped us clarify our wording in a number of areas, but no response suggested significant changes to the tone of the guidance. The BSB is therefore publishing the final guidance with only minor amendments to the consultation version in response to sector feedback to provide greater clarity and aid usability.
About the BSB:
The Banking Standards Board (BSB) is a non-statutory membership body that helps to promote high standards of behaviour and competence across the UK banking industry. As its work has developed, the BSB also now works with firms globally and/or outside the banking sector.
The BSB was established in April 2015. It is a private sector body funded by membership subscriptions and fees from services provided to non-member firms. Membership is open to all banks and building societies operating in the UK. The BSB is not a regulator or a trade association. It provides challenge, support and scrutiny for firms committed to strengthening the trustworthiness of the sector, practical insight into steps that firms can take to understand and manage their organisational culture, and impartial and objective assessments of the industry’s progress.
Find out more about the BSB’s work.
Contact:
Laura Conaghan
Head of Media Relations, Banking Standards Board
0203 7819711
laura.conaghan@bankingstandardsboard.org.uk
Miriam Abilama
Head of Content, Banking Standards Board
0203 7819701
miriam.abilama@bankingstandardsboard.org.uk
