Shaking Heads
I wrote briefly about Starling’s Final Notice yesterday and many of us are still shaking our heads in disbelief.
So how on earth did this all happen?
Aside from what appear to be multiple failings, including disregard for a VREQ, there’s more to this. We all know how the SMCR works, so we can assume that this story's not yet over for Starling.
In Starling’s case, it wasn’t just that SMFs didn’t know what to do. The VREQ would have made that very clear.
That leads us to the firm’s culture.
In most cases, we know that SMFs want to do a good job, but mistakes can be made by anyone. We also know that the unexpected can happen (e.g. COVID). We need to understand the true root cause of the issues that occurred. Some might say that Starling’s systems and controls were the problem, but we need to look deeper than that.
At The Culture Space we’re going to be using cases like this within our 'Learning Events' and our 'Insights Clinics' to really help you to understand where other firms go wrong and to make sure you can take the important ‘reasonable steps’ to get it right within your own firm.
If you’re in any doubt about what’s expected of you as an SMF, if you currently have any issues within your firm, or you suspect that there might be issues, do something. Don't delay and certainly don’t wait for the Regulator to come knocking at your door.
Be proactive. Don’t wait around for something to go wrong. Get on top of your competence and development as an SMF. Make the right moves to show your commitment to driving an exemplary culture within your firm. Take action and come and join us at The Culture Space, the SMF centre of excellence.
You’ll soon find out if you’re hitting the mark and if not, we'll help you to get there. #SMCR #SMF
