UK - SMCR Update: at last, clarity that Head of Legal is not a senior management function

The long-running debate over whether the legal function should be captured by the SMR was resolved in a consultation paper published by the FCA on 23 January. The FCA confirmed that its approach is to exclude it, largely on the basis that legal privilege would render FCA supervision ineffectual. Certain other residual issues were also swept up in the paper, including relating to the client dealing function, the systems and controls functions and intermediary revenue criteria for the enhanced tier.