Tag Archives: boards

What makes an effective Chair of the Board?

Not all firms have someone as the appointed chair of the board but, where they do, it’s a role that interests regulators. In very broad terms, I see the CEO function (SMF1), the chair of the board function (SMF9) and the chief risk officer function (SMF4) attracting the most regulatory attention. It’s common for the […]

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Conflicts of interests for Boards

Conflicts of interests are relevant to all regulated firms in a number of ways. This note looks at conflicts of interests in the context of boards of directors. To begin, why do conflicts matter? Directors have a duty to shareholders to act honestly and in good faith. There’s an underlying principle that directors should not […]

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Boards, NEDs and Challenge

One of the key responsibilities of a non-executive director is to hold management (including the executive directors) to account. That’s done through oversight, including by challenge. Over the last few years, I’ve picked up that ‘challenge’ is getting a bad rap and a NED who challenges management can be seen as difficult, not being a […]

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What makes an outstanding board?

This started as an article about what makes a board of directors ‘effective’ but I decided that was aiming too low. Why shouldn’t a board be outstanding? Let’s begin though with board effectiveness. 1 Board effectiveness What made the board of a bank or other financial institution ‘effective’ a few years ago won’t hit the […]

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THE CONSUMER DUTY ANNUAL REPORT: POINTS FOR BOARDS TO CONSIDER

For firms subject to the Consumer Duty, the first annual report is on the horizon and a firm’s board of directors will need to review and approve the report, provide confirmations, carry out assessments and agree actions. The process involves more than simply reviewing and approving a document. The Financial Conduct Authority (the FCA) will […]

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FCA STRATEGY FOR CONSUMER LENDING – DEAR CEO LETTER OF 20 MARCH 2024

In a Dear CEO letter issued on 20 March 2024[1], the Financial Conduct Authority set out its agenda for the next two years for three portfolios in the consumer lending market: high-cost lending; mainstream consumer lending; and credit unions. The FCA says that A significant part of our supervisory activity over the next two years […]

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