We are delighted to announce that, as part of our Employment knowledge service, we have published a new Q&A section which looks in detail at the rules impacting employment in the Financial services sector before, during, and at the end of the employment cycle.
Topics covered include:
- basic concepts – the scope of the financial services sector, authorisation and regulated activities pursuant to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000) and secondary legislation enacted under it, as well as the Financial Services Register;
- regulators – the objectives of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC);
- rules – the FCA's Principles for Business (PRIN), Senior Management Arrangements, Systems and Controls (SYSC), Code of Conduct (COCON) and Fit and Proper Test for Employees and Senior Personnel (FIT), together with the PRA's Rulebook and Fundamental Rules;
- regimes – including the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR), reporting obligations in respect of disciplinary action, regulatory enforcement action, regulatory references, and special requirements and considerations where whistleblowing is involved; and
- remuneration, benefits and equality – bonuses, the sector's Remuneration Codes (including malus and the retrospective clawback of variable remuneration to reflect risks and outcomes), pay equality between men and women, and the regulators' diversity initiatives.
We have also expanded our Collective matters coverage with the launch of our latest Q&A on the Right to take industrial action.
This new section examines the right to take industrial action including trade union immunity and liability in tort for industrial action. In particular, it sets out balloting and notification requirements for lawful industrial action as well as restrictions on picketing and minimum service levels pursuant to the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023. Additionally, the section explains the international obligations relevant to industrial action as well as employer's and employee's remedies in industrial action.
