SMConnect Webinars:
Practical Insight for leaders in SMCR roles
Our new and exclusive SMConnect forum is for senior managers and certified staff who want to stay ahead of regulatory change by staying connected. Each month we unpack one SMCR theme and plug it directly into issues on the regulatory horizon. We’ll explore what the regulator means by “doing the right thing”.
You’ll receive direct access to legal and compliance experts, real life examples and practical tools and actions designed to help you evidence “reasonable steps”. Alongside this, the series acts as a confidential peer community – a space to share challenges, pressure‑test thinking and build trusted connections across the industry.
What you can expect
More information on the individual webinars can be found below:
A practical session on getting attestations right in a changing regulatory landscape
Why now
Annual cycles are live, and forthcoming reforms may materially change certification and attestation requirements and practices in future periods. This session will focus on how to approach attestations efficiently and consistently, without unnecessary duplication of effort. Ad hoc attestations are also an increasingly popular regulatory tool.
What you’ll gain
- Understand how negotiable the text may (or may not) be;
- Accountability and ownership: how to map controls clearly and consistently to attestations
- Practical approaches to evidence standards and assurance expectations
- A specific: ways to integrate Consumer Duty MI into existing attestation processes
- Ideas for streamlining activity across teams and frameworks
Session leads
- Chantal Stroker
- James Greig
Session length
- 60 mins
Who should attend
Senior leaders, SMFs, risk, compliance and assurance professionals involved in attestations, certification or Consumer Duty oversight.
If you would like to attend, please contact: tlt.events@tlt.com
Who Owns AI? Senior Manager Accountability under SMCR
As firms rapidly deploy AI across operations, financial crime and customer journeys, questions of senior manager accountability are moving from theoretical to enforceable regulatory risk.
The FCA is increasingly focused on who owns AI‑driven decisions, how risks are governed, and whether senior managers can evidence “reasonable steps” where automated systems are in use.
TLT is hosting a focused session on AI Deployment and Accountability under SMCR, exploring how firms can put in place governance frameworks that withstand regulatory scrutiny as AI use scales.
Why this matters now
- AI is being embedded into core, regulated decision‑making at pace
- Regulatory expectations around senior manager oversight are sharpening
- SMCR exposure is crystallising where AI ownership, controls and escalation routes are unclear
What we will cover
- How to assign clear and defensible SMF accountability for AI systems
- Practical approaches to AI model governance, oversight and challenge
- What “reasonable steps” looks like in an AI‑enabled environment
- Creating documentation that stands up to audit and FCA scrutiny
Session leads
Session length
- 30 mins
Who should attend
- Senior Managers responsible for technology, risk, compliance or operations
- Legal, compliance and risk professionals advising SMFs
- AI, data and model governance leads within regulated firms
The session will draw on TLT’s AI Briefing Paper on SMCR implications, translating regulatory expectations into practical, actionable governance steps.
If you would like to attend, please contact: tlt.events@tlt.com
Effective Governance – SoRs, RACI and Committees that Work
Governance is not an administrative burden; if done effectively, it is a strategic tool that facilitates decision-making and mitigates risks. For senior managers, it can play a crucial role in demonstrating ‘reasonable steps’.
We are hosting a focused session on Effective Governance – SoRs, RACI and Committees that Work, examining how firms and senior managers can sharpen governance frameworks to meet regulatory expectations and operate effectively in reality, not just on paper.
Why now
- Proposed SMCR reforms do not remove the need for clarity on roles, responsibilities and accountability
- Regulators remain focused on how accountability works in practice
- Pace and scale of regulatory change requires pivoting in decision making
- Increase in data driven decision making
- Weak structures and MI continue to drive regulatory findings
- Regulators continue to hold senior managers to account
What we will cover
- Sharpening Statements of Responsibilities and Responsibility Maps to reflect reality
- Designing RACI frameworks that support accountability rather than dilute it
- The right balance of governance
- Effective debate and challenge
- Management information that facilitates insight and oversight
Session leads
- James Chadwick
- Chantal Stroker
- Andrzej Wieckowski
- James Greig
Session length
- 30 mins
The session will combine legal and regulatory insight, with practical experience and lessons learned to help firms strengthen governance in a proportionate and defensible way.
If you would like to attend, please contact: tlt.events@tlt.com
Why now
Supervisory intensity continues to increase, with firms experiencing more frequent regulator visits, in‑depth interviews and Skilled Person–style engagements. Expectations around preparation, conduct and post‑meeting evidence are rising, particularly where individual accountability and Reasonable Steps are in focus.
What we will cover / Outcomes
This session will provide a practical, end‑to‑end playbook to help firms and Senior Managers manage regulatory interactions with confidence. We will cover how to prepare effectively for meetings and interviews, including structuring document packs and aligning internal narratives; how to perform well during the engagement, handling challenge, questioning and unexpected lines of enquiry; and how to manage the follow‑up, ensuring clear audit trails, action tracking and robust “after action” evidence to support Reasonable Steps.
Attendees will leave with:
- A practical preparation framework for regulator meetings and interviews
- Guidance on effective in‑meeting conduct and handling pressure
- A clear approach to post‑engagement follow‑up, documentation and evidence
Webinar leads
- James Greig
- Chantal Stroker
Session length
- 30 mins
If you would like to attend, please contact: tlt.events@tlt.com
Why now
Operational resilience remains a key regulatory priority, with continued scrutiny on how firms identify important business services, set and test impact tolerances, and manage dependencies on third parties and critical third parties (CTPs). Expectations around governance, oversight and Senior Manager accountability are becoming more explicit, particularly where incidents, disruptions or outsourcing failures intersect with SMCR.
What we will cover / Outcomes
This session will explore how firms can practically embed operational resilience requirements into their governance, MI and accountability frameworks. We will focus on linking resilience mapping and MI to SMF responsibilities, strengthening oversight of outsourced and third‑party arrangements (including CTPs), and ensuring clear escalation, incident management and reporting pathways.
The session will also examine how operational resilience incidents and near misses should be captured, evidenced and reported in a way that aligns with SMCR expectations and supports Reasonable Steps.
Attendees will leave with:
- A clearer understanding of how operational resilience obligations map to SMF accountability
- Practical approaches to third‑party and CTP oversight and governance
- Guidance on incident reporting, escalation and SMCR interfaces
- Insight into current regulatory expectations and areas of supervisory focus
Webinar leads
Session length
- 60 mins
If you would like to attend, please contact: tlt.events@tlt.com
Why now
Regulatory references remain an area of heightened risk for firms and individuals, with increasing scrutiny on accuracy, timeliness and fairness. Potential reforms may simplify aspects of the regime, while current trends in non‑financial misconduct (NFM) are driving more complex judgements about what should be disclosed and how. Poorly handled references continue to be a source of regulatory challenge, litigation risk and operational friction between HR, Legal and Compliance.
What we will cover / Outcomes
This session will provide practical guidance on how to approach regulatory references in a way that is robust, fair and defensible. We will explore what firms must and should disclose, how to assess and evidence concerns (including NFM), and how to apply fair process safeguards to reduce challenge and legal exposure.
The session will also consider how regulatory references intersect with internal investigations, disciplinary processes and exits, and how HR, Legal and Compliance can work together to deliver references that meet regulatory expectations without over‑ or under‑disclosure.
Attendees will leave with:
- Clarity on mandatory vs discretionary disclosure in regulatory references
- Practical guidance on applying fair process and consistency
- Insight into litigation and enforcement risk arising from references
- A clearer understanding of how HR, Legal and Compliance roles interact
Webinar leads
Session length
- 30 mins
If you would like to attend, please contact: tlt.events@tlt.com
Why now
Regulators continue to place significant emphasis on culture, conduct and non‑financial misconduct (NFM), with the FCA increasingly focused on how firms evidence culture in practice rather than relying on values statements or tone‑from‑the‑top messaging. Consumer Duty has further raised expectations around outcomes, behaviour and challenge, increasing scrutiny on how culture is monitored, tested and escalated.
What we will cover / Outcomes
This session will focus on how firms can move from cultural aspirations to credible, regulator‑ready evidence. We will explore how to translate culture into tangible artefacts, including management information, pulse surveys, speak‑up data and behavioural indicators, and how to use these effectively to demonstrate oversight and challenge.
The session will also address how firms should identify, investigate and respond to NFM issues, and how cultural concerns should be escalated, documented and evidenced in a way that stands up to supervisory and enforcement scrutiny.
Attendees will leave with:
- Practical ways to evidence culture beyond policies and slogans
- Insight into the MI that the regulators expect to see and how to use it effectively
- Guidance on demonstrating challenge, escalation and governance
- A clearer approach to identifying and tackling NFM risks
Speakers
Agenda
17:30 – Guest arrival with tea, coffee and soft drinks
18:00 – Optional pre-session: DEI&R – setting the cultural foundations
18:30 - Culture – From slogans to evidence regulators believe
19:00 – Networking drinks
20:00 – Close of event
Optional pre‑session:
DEI&R – setting the culturalfoundations (20 minutes)
Ahead of the Culture session, we offer a short, focused training on Diversity,Equity, Inclusion and Respect (DEI&R), designed to ground the widerdiscussion in the behaviours and conduct regulators increasingly expect to seein practice. This session moves beyond statements of intent to explore howDEI&R links to culture, decision‑making and non‑financial misconduct risk,and why it is now a key component of regulatory scrutiny. It provides apractical foundation for the main Culture session, helping participantsunderstand how inclusive behaviours, psychological safety and respectfulchallenge translate into credible, regulator‑ready evidence.
If you would like to attend, please contact: tlt.events@tlt.com
Why now
Firms are facing an increasingly busy and overlapping regulatory change agenda across both retail and wholesale markets. With multiple initiatives running in parallel, regulators expect Boards and Senior Managers to have clear oversight, predictable governance and decision‑ready management information. There is growing scrutiny on how regulatory change is prioritised, tracked and evidenced, particularly where accountability under SMCR is engaged.
What we will cover / Outcomes
This session will focus on how firms can design and maintain an effective governance and execution rhythm for managing regulatory change. We will explore how to structure change portfolios to give Boards and SMFs clear line of sight, how to ensure traceability from regulatory requirements through to controls and outcomes, and how to generate audit‑ready evidence that demonstrates Reasonable Steps.
The session will also address common pitfalls, including fragmented ownership, inconsistent MI and over‑complex change frameworks, and will share practical approaches to keeping regulatory change delivery disciplined, proportionate and defensible.
Attendees will leave with:
- Practical approaches to regulatory change portfolio governance
- Guidance on producing clear, decision‑ready MI for Boards and SMFs
- Insight into traceability from rule to control and implementation
- A framework for evidencing oversight and Reasonable Steps
Webinar leads
Session length
- 30 mins
If you would like to attend, please contact: tlt.events@tlt.com
Meet our panel:
If you have any questions about this webinar series, please contact TLT Events
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