Specialist sites for CFOs in regulated businesses
In an FCA-regulated firm, the CFO is rarely just the finance lead. They sit on a board that is accountable to the regulator, they set the budget for compliance, and they are often the person asked to find a new compliance officer or MLRO when one leaves. FD Capital Group runs three specialist sites built for exactly those moments.
Where finance meets regulation
Most CFO resources stop at the numbers. They cover reporting, funding, forecasting and the finance team, and leave regulation to someone else. In a regulated business that split does not hold. Under the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, the Chief Finance function is itself a Senior Manager Function (SMF2), and the board the CFO sits on must make sure every other required function is held by someone the FCA has approved.
That puts three recurring questions on the CFO’s desk. What does the latest regulatory change mean for the business and its controls? Who will hold the compliance and financial crime roles, and how much of their time do we actually need? And when one of those people leaves, how quickly can we replace them with someone the regulator will approve?
Generalist recruitment sites rarely answer those questions, and regulatory news sites rarely connect the rules to the people who carry them. FD Capital Group’s three specialist sites were set up to join the two. Each covers one part of the regulated landscape in depth, and each leads to a recruitment team that understands it. This page explains what each site does and when a CFO might use it.
If you need a CFO or Finance Director yourself, that is FD Capital’s job, including CFOs for financial services firms. The sites below cover the regulated roles around the CFO.
Three specialist sites, one network
Each site focuses on one part of regulated hiring and points to the team that delivers it.
Regulatory Capital
Compliance news and resources for FCA-regulated firms and the senior managers who run them, covering what the rules require and who is accountable for meeting them.
MLRO Capital
Specialist search for Money Laundering Reporting Officers, deputy MLROs and financial crime leaders, on a permanent, interim or fractional basis.
Broker Recruit
Compliance and senior hiring for insurance brokers and MGAs, mortgage and credit brokers, wealth and advice firms, and investment brokers.
Regulatory Capital is a compliance news and resources site for FCA-regulated firms. What sets it apart is that it covers both halves of regulation: what the rules require, and the people who are personally accountable for meeting them. That makes it useful reading for a CFO who sits on a regulated board but does not hold the compliance brief.
What a CFO will find there
- News and analysis on the Senior Managers regime, financial crime, Consumer Duty, payments, consumer credit and cryptoassets, written with the board-level implications in mind. The Regulatory Capital blog is updated regularly.
- The SMF recruitment guide, which works through each Senior Manager Function and explains what it involves and who usually holds it.
- A resources page with links to official sources, including the FCA Handbook, and a running digest of regulatory change.
- Practical articles on the questions that reach the CFO when the compliance budget is set, such as whether to combine the compliance officer and MLRO roles and why more regulated firms are going fractional.
When a firm is ready to make an appointment, Regulatory Capital points to SMF Capital, FD Capital Group’s dedicated Senior Manager Function recruiter.
MLRO Capital focuses on a single appointment: the Money Laundering Reporting Officer, and the financial crime team around them.
Every business covered by the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 must appoint a nominated officer. In an FCA-regulated firm that person usually holds the SMF17 function and carries personal responsibility for the firm’s anti-money laundering systems and controls, including the decision on whether to report suspicions to the National Crime Agency. When an MLRO resigns, or a firm applies for authorisation, the gap has to be filled quickly and with someone the regulator will approve.
Why it matters to the CFO
The MLRO is not a finance role, but the CFO is closely involved. Financial crime controls depend on finance data and systems, the MLRO’s team and tools need a budget, and an unfilled MLRO post is a regulatory risk the whole board owns. In smaller firms, the CFO is often the one who has to run the replacement.
MLRO Capital covers permanent, interim and fractional MLROs, deputy MLROs and financial crime leaders. It links to SMF Capital’s specialist pages on MLRO recruitment, fractional MLROs, interim MLROs and compliance officers and urgent Senior Manager replacement. SMF Capital’s guide MLRO explained is a good primer on the role.
Broker Recruit is a specialist recruitment site for FCA-regulated broking firms: insurance brokers and MGAs, mortgage and consumer credit brokers, wealth and advice firms, and investment and stockbroking firms.
Broking firms face the same Senior Manager rules as much larger businesses, usually with a far smaller team and a finance function of one or two people. The most common need is a compliance officer and MLRO, often combined in one person holding both the SMF16 and SMF17 functions, and often needed for only a day or two a week. The CFO or Finance Director of a broking firm is frequently the person asked to find them.
What Broker Recruit covers
- Combined compliance officer and MLRO recruitment (SMF16 and SMF17).
- Part-time compliance officers for smaller firms that do not need a full-time hire.
- Senior Manager recruitment for insurance, including brokers and MGAs.
- Support for firms going through FCA authorisation, where approved people must be in place before permissions are granted.
Searches that start on Broker Recruit are delivered by SMF Capital.
Which site do I need?
What CFOs should check before a compliance or MLRO hire
Whichever site a business starts from, a few principles apply to every regulated compliance or financial crime appointment.
- Match the experience to the permissions. A compliance officer from wealth management may not know consumer credit, and an MLRO from retail banking may not know payments. Check that candidates have worked under the same or similar FCA permissions as your firm.
- Plan for approval time. Senior Manager appointments need FCA approval, and the regulator must be satisfied the candidate is fit and proper. Build that into the timetable, and consider interim cover if the post would otherwise sit empty.
- Be realistic about time commitment. Many smaller firms do not need a full-time compliance officer or MLRO. A fractional arrangement of one or two days a week can give access to more experienced people than the budget for a full-time hire would allow.
- Check the register. The FCA Financial Services Register shows which controlled functions a candidate holds or has held. It is a quick check worth making before interview.
- Budget for the function, not just the person. A compliance officer or MLRO needs systems, data and people to do the job well. A CFO who budgets for monitoring tools and support as well as the salary gives the appointment a much better chance of success.
Part of FD Capital Group
The specialist sites sit alongside five recruitment brands. Every enquiry that starts on a specialist site is handled by one of them, with the same consultants and the same shared candidate network.
Adrian Lawrence FCA
Founder, FD Capital and FD Capital Group
Adrian is a Chartered Accountant and Fellow of the ICAEW with a practising certificate, and a former listed-company Finance Director. He founded FD Capital in 2018 and has since built Exec Capital, NED Capital, Accountancy Capital and SMF Capital. His specialist knowledge of FCA regulatory frameworks and the Senior Managers regime shapes Regulatory Capital, MLRO Capital and Broker Recruit, and he personally leads the searches that start on them.
Related services and guides
Hiring a CFO, compliance officer or MLRO?
Tell us about the role and the business. FD Capital handles CFO and Finance Director searches, and SMF Capital handles compliance and MLRO appointments, each with a straight view of the market and the timescale.