Part of the City of London Group (COLG), Recognise was formed to provide financial services to the UK SME sector and the retail and business deposits market. Recognise will target an under-served but growing business customer population seeking greater human contact, better speeds of response and execution, flexibility of structuring and continuity of management.
Whilst still in the process of gaining a banking licence from the regulator, Recognise are confident of being granted one. With that in mind, the exec team have been actively planning operational processes, including the implementation of SM&CR.
“The knowledge and expertise that the team at Worksmart hold is exceptional. We find them thoroughly professional and approachable at all times”.
– Bryce Glover, Deputy CEO, Recognise Bank
Executive Summary
Worksmart’s mix of deep regulatory experience and dedicated SM&CR software provided the ideal fit to help Recognise’s exec team through their preparations for SM&CR, which also formed a significant part of their application for a banking licence.
The regulatory team worked with Recognise’s exec team to plan their detailed governance arrangements and by using Accord, Worksmart’s dedicated SM&CR software, the team were able to model different governance options before settling on their preferred choice. The regulatory team also used Accord to help Recognise’s exec team to visualise how they would manage and evidence the competence and capability of all staff in the Senior Managers, Certification and Conduct Rules regimes. These governance arrangements were then used as a key part of Recognise’s MRM (management responsibility map) submission to the regulator.
Since submission, Accord has been configured and is being used in anticipation of Recognise being awarded a full banking licence.
Challenges
City of London Group is an AIM listed financial services business providing both non-regulated and regulated lending products. Although the management team were highly experienced banking professionals, when the strategic decision was made to set up Recognise, the board felt they needed specialist advice in interpreting and applying SM&CR to themselves.
At this point, Recognise’s management team invited Worksmart’s regulatory experts to help.
Our systems deliver integrated, automated and auditable SM&CR management processes. With our strong commitment to quality and regulatory adherence, it’s no surprise that we have an ever growing list of organisations gaining business advantage from regulatory change.
– Andy Nightingale, MD, Worksmart
How Worksmart Helped
Worksmart worked with Recognise’s exec team, providing ‘ground up’ advice on the new rules and how these should be applied to Recognise.
The team then used Accord, Worksmart’s SM&CR software, to model Recognise’s likely governance structure and activities before confirming these arrangements in the software. They then used Accord to plan how they would ensure the competence and capability of all staff.
Once done, Worksmart’s software implementation consultants worked with Recognise’s system administrators to configure and prime the system as well as training them in the detailed operation of the system so they could, in turn, train end users.
Results, Return on Investment and Future Plans
Workmart’s regulatory team’s guidance and Accord’s modelling and mapping capability has formed a key part of Recognise’s application for a banking licence. A combination of this advice and Accord’s reporting capability has provided the regulator with clear and detailed plans for how Recognise intends to comply with the regulation and provide the company with the software to enable them manage, record and report on every aspect of their compliance with the new SM&R rules.
“The functionality built into the system provides a holistic and granular view of the governance required for each SM&CR holder”.
– Bryce Glover, Deputy CEO, Recognise Bank