Following the Rules

• Special episode: How to cut red tape for financial leaders while raising conduct standards with Penny Miller and Andrea Finn of Simmons & Simmons

  Today’s episode is part of a special series of Following the Rules produced in association with Simmons & Simmons, an international law firm supporting financial institutions across the global regulatory landscape. The series offers practical insights to help financial services firms navigate legal, regulatory, technological, and cultural change. In this episode, we explore two closely-linked developments set to reshape the compliance agenda: reforms to the UK’s senior managers regime, and the FCA’s new rules on toxic workplace behaviour, which will bring bullying, harassment, and discrimination within the scope of regulatory misconduct from 2026. So, what do these changes mean for senior managers and their teams? How can firms strike the right balance between cutting red tape and maintaining strong accountability? And how should legal, compliance and HR functions prepare for regulator’s growing focus on culture and non-financial misconduct? Joining me to discuss these questions are: Penny Miller, who leads Simmons & Simmons' UK business and is a partner in its Financial Services Regulatory Group, advising global banks and asset managers on complex UK and cross-border regulatory issues and, Andrea Finn, a partner who heads the UK Employment and Pensions Group at Simmons & Simmons, specialising in employment and conduct matters, with extensive experience helping firms navigate the overlap between regulatory and employment law. --- Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on The Banker's Risk & Regulation hub...

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• Special episode: How to master compliant voice surveillance in financial services with Smarsh’s Ryan Kahan

  Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Smarsh, a technology firm providing global financial institutions with the tools to capture, store, and monitor their communications. It’s part of a new Following the Rules series providing practical guidance to help financial services firms navigate legal, regulatory, technological, and cultural change. In this episode, we look at a hot-button issue for regulators on both sides of the Atlantic: how banks and investment firms monitor voice communications. Even in an era of instant messaging, the most sensitive deals are still struck over the phone. And that makes voice communications a prime focus for watchdogs worried about misconduct and recordkeeping failures. I’m joined by Ryan Kahan, the executive vice president of voice interactions at Smarsh, who has spent decades helping financial institutions navigate the complexities of voice recording and surveillance. We discuss why regulators are ramping up pressure on firms to capture and store calls, the common mistakes banks make when trying to upgrade their systems, how new technology could transform the field, and what practical steps firms should be taking now to stay ahead.   --- Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on The Banker's Risk & Regulation hub...  

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• Special episode: How to future proof your business with Charlotte Stalin and Sarah James of Simmons & Simmons

  Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Simmons & Simmons, an international law firm supporting financial institutions across the global regulatory landscape. It also forms part of a new Following the Rules series providing practical, actionable guidance to help listeners and the financial services firms they work for navigate legal, regulatory, technological, and cultural change. In this episode, we turn to the future of work – an area moving rapidly up the agenda. A 2024 survey by the Bank of England and the FCA found that 75% of UK-regulated firms are already deploying or trialling AI and machine learning, particularly in areas like anti-money laundering, and fraud detection. By 2025, firms are beginning to explore more sophisticated and complex use cases. So how will AI reshape the role of legal and compliance teams in financial services? What steps can organisations take to future-proof these functions as innovation accelerates? And what are the risks of failing to adapt? Joining us to share their insights are: Charlotte Stalin, the head of Simmons & Simmons’ financial institutions sector, who advises leading global investment firms and banks on financial services regulation, having joined the firm in 2006. Sarah James, a Partner at Simmons & Simmons, who since 2016 has also led the firm’s flexible legal resource business, Adaptive, as its Global Head. Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on the FT's Banking, Risk and Regulation...

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• FCA’s Charlotte Clark on the firms ‘over-interpreting’ Consumer Duty, how the watchdog plans to help City firms navigate compliance, and its role in supporting firms through rapid AI adoption

  Today’s guest discusses how some wholesale financial institutions may be unnecessarily “gold-plating” their efforts to comply with the Financial Conduct Authority’s Consumer Duty regime. She details how the regulator plans to both clarify and simplify its expectations of all firms subject to the far-reaching ruleset. She also discusses the FCA’s plans to help firms, both large and small, navigate the rapid deployment of AI tools across financial services and explains why inclusive product design is important for firms to get right. Charlotte Clark’s career includes stints overseeing policy on various aspects of pensions regulation at HM Treasury and the Department for Work and Pensions, as well as four years as director of regulation at lobby group the Association of British Insurers. She joined the FCA in November 2024 to lead its work on consumer strategy, and broader policy affecting firms across all sectors as the watchdog’s director for cross-cutting policy and strategy. --- Short on time? You can read the episode highlights on the FT's Banking, Risk and Regulation

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• Special episode: How to track non-financial misconduct within your business with Smarsh's Shaun Hurst and former Standard Chartered surveillance chief Emily Wright

  Today’s episode is a special one produced in association with Smarsh, a technology firm providing global financial institutions with the tools to capture, store, and monitor their communications. It also marks the launch of a new Following the Rules series providing practical, actionable guidance to help listeners and the financial services firms they work for navigate legal, regulatory, technological, and cultural change. We’re kicking off with a deep dive into non-financial misconduct - a growing area of regulatory focus. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority now considers toxic workplace behaviour, such as bullying, harassment, and discrimination, to be conduct that could impact a person’s fitness for regulated roles and signal broader cultural failings. From 2026, the FCA will begin supervising serious cases more closely. So how can firms of all sizes effectively detect, respond to, and minimise non-financial misconduct within their businesses? How do you define what counts as serious bullying or discrimination? And how can organisations ensure change is meaningful, not just a box-ticking exercise? Today’s guests are experts in the subject. Shaun Hurst is Smarsh’s Principal Regulatory Advisor, with a background in managing technology for Citigroup’s security and investigations teams in Asia-Pacific and Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Emily Wright is a compliance and conduct consultant with over 20 years' experience, including overseeing compliance and surveillance programmes at financial services giants Standard Chartered, JP Morgan, and ICAP.

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