The consumer and commercial lending and asset finance sectors continue to face increasing scrutiny from the FCA, with a particular focus on governance, conduct, operational resilience and distribution models. Firms are required not only to demonstrate technical compliance across regimes such as SYSC, CONC and Consumer Duty, but also to evidence that these frameworks are embedded effectively across their operations.  

We support the full range of funders within this sector by combining regulatory expertise with practical delivery, helping firms translate regulatory requirements into proportionate, business-aligned solutions across governance, risk, distribution and customer outcomes.

Our recent experience includes:

• Provision of Perimeter and Permissions Advice for lending activities
• Advising on FCA applications for authorisation
• Performing governance framework and SMCR reviews, including Board composition, Statements of Responsibilities and governance effectiveness. 
• Provision of advice on intermediated market issues and documentation, including broker oversight and commission disclosure
• Drafting regulated and unregulated funding documentation
• Advising on SMF and certification individual non-financial misconduct reviews and FCA notification
• Advising on remediation projects and SUP 15 / P11 notifications. 
• Supporting firms on regulatory reporting requirements.  

We believe that regulation can deliver positive benefits if addressed correctly, helping firms to stand out and visibly deliver good outcomes for both regulated and unregulated customers. To this end, we provide clients with pragmatic and holistic advice, combining the grasp of technical detail required for the purposive application of FCA Handbook Rules and (where relevant) CCA Regulations with an understanding of the commercial demands which underpin everyday business activity, in order to deliver 'real world' solutions to compliance issues.

We are part of a regulatory team that combines legal and consultancy advice, including project management. Our mixture of lawyers and non-lawyers seamlessly cover the whole range of financial services regulatory compliance requirements, from FCA conduct risk and governance issues through to PRA prudential risk and regulatory accounting. Our team is experienced in working with UK and overseas regulators on behalf of clients; we are also on the FCA and PRA Skilled Persons panels.

Our approach has allowed us to build long term 'trusted advisor' relationships with lending and asset funding clients, delivering informed commercial support to businesses, in house lawyers and compliance teams whenever the size or complexity of a regulatory compliance issue requires specialist experience or additional resources.