With continued focus from the FCA and the ever-expanding scope of the Senior Managers’ and Certification Regime (SMCR), the importance of CASS Culture and Governance is all too prevalent.

This purpose-built 2-day course aims not only to highlight to Senior Executives and Managers the importance of embedding a CASS Culture through leadership from the top, but aims to provide such professionals with a step-by-step guide to facilitating same within the context of their respective organisation’s operational and business models. Incorporating real-life case studies, scenario-based challenges and break-out sessions, this course is designed to provide participants with a clear view of what exactly CASS Culture and Best Practice looks like and their role in achieving same.

Learning outcomes:

To provide participants with a clear understanding of:

• The CASS rules and where they fit within your organisation
• CASS roles and responsibilities – direct and indirect
• CASS at the Board level
• Lines of Defence and Separation of Functions
• Personal Accountability and Liability
• CASS Culture – Best Practice
• CASS Governance – Best Practice
• Key CASS Challenges
• The impact of the Senior Managers’ and Certification Regime
• Importance of Board engagement re: CASS
• CASS Resourcing
• Improve your ability to Interpret CASS rules and identify breaches

Sessions: 

• “With Great Power comes Great Responsibility”:
  • CASS in Context: Sanctions against Individuals
  • CASS Culture: “Not so Pink; Not so Fluffy”
  • CASS Culture: embedding from the top
  • CASS Governance Framework: The Basics
    • Interpretation
    • Risk Analysis
    • Policies
    • Procedures
    • Processes
    • Controls
    • CASS Resolution Pack
    • CASS Risk and Rules Mapping
  • CASS Governance Framework: The Players
    • The Board
    • The Executive
    • CASS Operational Oversight Officer
    • The CASS Community
    • The other Lines of Defence
  • The Senior Managers’ Regime (SMCR)
• “Firms can Delegate but they cannot Abdicate Responsibility”
  • CASS Governance Framework: The Pieces
    • Oversight
      • CASS Management Team
        • Weekly Meetings
        • Audit Trail Essentials
        • CASS Breach / Near Miss Management and Reporting
        • Escalation
        • Management Information
        • FCA Communications
    • Third Party Oversight
    • Outsourcing
    • Offshoring
    • The importance of Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
    • Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
    • CASS Due Diligence
    • CASS Audit
    • Accessing Third Party Documentation
    • The Aviva Case

Course Instructor: 

This course is led by Paul McDermott.

Paul has worked in financial services for over 20 years, holding the senior positions of compliance director, head of compliance, regulatory oversight and MLRO for several firms including Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein AXA Framlington, Liverpool Victoria and Brewin Dolphin. As a consultant, he liaises with the FCA and the FOS in supporting companies facing regulatory sanctions, gaining authorisation, creating or reorganising of governance structures and the management of complaints.

He has recently taken on the Compliance, Money Laundering and CASS oversight Senior Management Functions for a Portfolio Management firm and a Fintech firm.