Client Assets (CASS) Supervision Technical Specialist
Division: Resolution Strategy, Operations & CASS (ReSOC)
Department: Supervision, Policy & Competition
* Salary: National (Edinburgh and Leeds) ranging from £72,100 to £100,000 and London from £79,300 to £112,000 (salary offered will be based on skills and experience)
* This role is graded as: Technical Specialist - Regulatory
* Your recruitment contact is Tahir Khan via Applications must be submitted through our online portal. Applications sent via social media or email will not be accepted.
About the FCA and Team
We regulate financial services firms in the UK, to keep financial markets fair, thriving and effective. By joining us, you'll play a key part in protecting consumers, driving economic growth, and shaping the future of UK finance services.
SPC oversees firms and individuals (supervision), creates and reviews the rules by which they operate (policy) and identifies and remedies ineffective competition in markets (competition). Our specialist CASS supervision teams deliver the FCA's regulatory agenda for client assets, a pivotal part of the UK's financial services regulatory framework designed to promote speedy return and minimise losses of customers' money and assets following insolvency of regulated firms. These rules cover more than 3,000 regulated firms, holding £18bn of client money and £16 trillion of custody assets. They protect a wide range of financial services users – from people doing everyday things such as purchasing insurance or investing their savings, to large wholesale firms moving significant amounts around the financial system.
Role Responsibilities:
As a Technical Specialist you will be responsible for identifying risks and recommending supervisory strategies to ensure firms' compliance with the Client Assets Sourcebook (CASS) and mitigate harm. This includes working with firms that pose a high risk of harm to consumers and the FCA's objectives when they are failing or at risk of failure.
* Being at the heart of developing the CASS strategy for firms holding client assets, including for emerging business models and firms which are failing or at risk of failure
* Identifying, prioritising and mitigating CASS risks, including delivering effective strategies for the supervision of firms holding client assets
* Quality assurance of assessments and other casework, including providing technical advice on complex CASS issues
* Engaging and persuading a range of senior internal and external stakeholders, including regulated firms
* Leading projects and providing leadership, mentoring, coaching and training staff on technical CASS issues arising in different regulated firms and sectors
* Contribute to mitigating consumer harm, including as a result of external factors
* Contribute to a varied portfolio of work, working on high profile CASS issues in an environment with frequent regulatory updates
* Develop knowledge of CASS, its application to firms and the FCA's approach to supervision
Skills Required:
Minimum:
* Extensive experience of financial services regulation whether from working at a regulated firm providing CASS oversight, compliance or advisory, or as a CASS auditor to regulated firms
* Demonstrated advanced technical and practical experience of the FCA's Client Assets Sourcebook (CASS) and its application to regulated firms
Essential:
* Sound judgment and the skill to identify, prioritise, and mitigate CASS risks, including those arising from new business models and from firms that are failing or at risk of failure
* Ability to communicate subject matter clearly, professionally and with credibility to all levels of staff and stakeholders (both internal and external to the organisation)
* Ability to build an effective network across the organisation to deliver technical advice and challenge on a range of complex CASS issues and risks
* Collaborates effectively, shares knowledge, upskills junior colleagues and inspires others to develop skills and capabilities
* Demonstrable delivery capability with the ability to prioritise and manage multiple workstreams to tight deadlines
* Resourceful: delivers greatest public value for money - constantly looks for improvement opportunities in relevant processes to produce better, quicker, or more cost-effective outcomes
Benefits:
* 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays
* Hybrid model where employees work a minimum of 40% in the office each month (expectation of 50% for senior leaders). Changing from September to a minimum of 50% in the office over a rolling 3-month period (expectation of 60% for Directors and Executive Directors)
* Non-contributory pension (8–12% depending on age) and life assurance at eight times your salary
* Private healthcare with Bupa, income protection, and 24/7 Employee Assistance
* 35 hours of paid volunteering annually
* A flexible benefits scheme designed around your lifestyle
For a full list of our benefits, and our recruitment process as a whole visit our benefits page.
Our Values & Culture
Our colleagues are the key to our success as a regulator. We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive culture: one that's free from discrimination and bias, celebrates difference, and supports colleagues to deliver at their best. We believe that our differences and similarities enable us to be a better organisation – one that makes better decisions, drives innovation, and delivers better regulation.
If you require any adjustments due to a disability or condition, your recruiter is here to help - reach out for tailored support.
We welcome diverse working styles and aim to find flexible solutions that suit both the role and individual needs, including options like part-time and job sharing where applicable.
Disability Confident: Our Hiring Approach
We're proud to be a Disability Confident Employer, and therefore, people or individuals with disabilities and long-term conditions who best meet the minimum criteria for a role will go through to the next stage of the recruitment process. In cases of high application volumes we may progress applicants whose experience most closely matches the role's key requirements.
Useful Information and Timeline
* Job advert close: Sunday 8th March (midnight)
* CV Review/Shortlist: Tuesday 10th March
* First Interview: w/c 16th March
* Your Recruiter will discuss the process in detail with you during screening for the role, therefore, please make them aware if you are going to be unavailable for any date during this time