As the funeral planning industry moves towards regulation by the FCA some thought may given to the approach the regulator takes to overall supervision of a new sector.

This is important for the Boards of funeral planning organisations as they need to review and plan their corporate governance arrangements to support SMCR (Senior Managers Certification Regime) discussed in a previous blog.

The regulator adopts the following supervisory model:

  • Investigation of poor conduct and to reduce risk of exposure of such practices
  • Assessment of the funeral planning organisation’s strategies and business plans to identify emerging risks and threats
  • A desire to understand a firm’s business model is important 
  • Focus on culture and corporate governance arrangements
  • Examination of a firm’s leadership and structures
  • Examination of how senior staff within the firm are held accountable for their work and actions
  • How the SMCR programme is upheld and managed
  • Review how competence and re-evaluation is performed
  • The regulator seeks to assess how the funeral planning firm treats customers fairly and vulnerable consumers
  • Evaluation of complaints data
  • Clear feedback is offered on good and bad practices that the regulator identifies

We strongly advocate that organisation’s review their corporate governance to best practice models such as BS 13500 – Code of Practice for delivering effective governance within organisations. Our governance consultant can perform a benchmark audit and report with actions.

For further information and to book your governance survey please contact: Mo Arshad LLB LLM at Thamer James Ltd. Email: [email protected]

Mo has a specialism in FCA regulation and has worked with a broad range of financial services organisations including the funeral planning sector.  He has provided advice across the regulatory spectrum including the implementation of the Senior Managers and Certification regime, General Data Protection Regulation as well as guiding firms through the FCA regulatory approval process and associated notifications.

Mo holds a Law Degree, a Master’s in Law as well as the respected Diploma in Governance, Risk and Compliance from the International Compliance Association.