The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) is urging firms to comply with the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, after the regulator identified thousands of firms that had not submitted any data for its register.
Solo-regulated firms were required to assess their certified staff as ‘fit and proper’ and submit relevant Directory Persons data, which is published on the FCA register, by March 31.
But in an email sent this week (April 20) to the trade association, seen by FTAdviser, the FCA said its records indicated a large number of firms across various sectors had not submitted any data.
The regulator added it would send emails to approximately 2,800 non-submitting firms, which previously had approved persons and provide consumer-facing activities, including mortgage advice firms.
Robert Sinclair, chief executive of AMI, said: “There appears to be a significant number of investment and mortgage advice firms that have not advised the FCA of the requested adviser details by the end of March as required.
“The FCA has written to all those firms giving them a short time to rectify the position. AMI has written to all its member firms and are providing support to ensure they are all compliant.
“Firms who are not members should take urgent action if they get an email from the FCA regarding the directory and not ignore it as the implications are serious.”
Firms will need to make the required submission within a week, or confirm to the regulator the reason why they believe they do not need to submit.
Firms that have still not submitted after the deadline, or have not confirmed to the regulator that they do not have any directory persons, will be passed to its late returns team to process a £250 admin fee, pending all necessary further regulatory steps to ensure compliance or ultimately, removal of permissions.
Under the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, the regulator publishes and maintains a directory of certified and assessed persons on its Financial Services Register, so consumers and professionals can check details of key individuals working in financial services.
chloe.cheung@ft.com
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