Threshold Conditions

TCT Associate Level 8

Background

The FCA's Enforcement function (part of the Enforcement & Market Oversight Division) investigates serious breaches of regulatory standards, including the minimum standards for continued authorisation for firms (the Threshold Conditions) and for individuals (FIT).

As part of the FCA Strategy, we have announced our plans to hire 80 new colleagues to focus on shutting down problem firms, which do not meet basic regulatory standards. Removing those firms will allow us to protect consumers from potential fraud and mistreatment and will create a better market. The Problem Firms Team are building the strategic approach to this crucial work.

The Problem Firms Team sits in Retail 4 within Retail & Regulatory Investigations in Enforcement.

Retail 4 currently consists of five critical FCA teams: Relationship Management and Strategy (overseeing the pipeline of referrals to Retail investigations and being responsible for our engagement strategy with internal and external stakeholders), Interventions (supporting the FCA’s desire to intervene assertively when ongoing harm is detected), two Threshold Conditions Teams, encompassing the Use It or Lose It initiative and the Problem Firms Team.

Threshold Conditions Team (TCT)

The TCT is a centre of expertise in the FCA for taking action against authorised firms which are identified to be failing to meet the minimum standards to remain authorised. As part of its casework, the TCT receives each year significant volumes of referrals of firms who are not conducting regulated activity, have failed to submit regulatory returns, Firm Detail Attestations or who have failed to pay fees owed to the FCA.

This role offers you the opportunity to be at the forefront of exciting work to clean up the market and ensure that firms do not inappropriately benefit from a “halo” effect of their permissions. You will have responsibility for a variety of fast-paced cases, obtain significant RDC, EDM and Tribunal experience, and be involved in supporting a large new team that is developing innovative strategies for identifying and targeting non-compliant firms. Triaging and progressing the cases will require engagement with all areas of the FCA, including the RDC, EDMs and senior stakeholders across the FCA. The volume of referrals will be high and will present novel and challenging legal, factual and evidential issues, which must be dealt with at pace. Due to the high profile nature of the work the role requires flexibility, initiative, judgment, drive and resilience.

What does this job involve?

This role involves handling a caseload of regulated firms who have failed to submit regulatory returns, pay fees or who are otherwise not meeting minimum standards (TCT) the role involves:

- Conducting end to end dedicated and robust Threshold Conditions investigations
- Taking responsibility for maintaining a high standard of accuracy during all stages of the investigation and engagement
- Acting as a principal point of contact when engaging with firms and internal stakeholders
- Using communication skills to explain our requirements and managing expectations regarding response times and the level of detail we require
- Conducting checks on FCA systems, databases, and public data
- Assessing evidence to determine whether a firm has been using their permissions, this will include analysis of firm’s financial statements and business models
- Preparing correspondence to firms, dealing with firms on the telephone and preparing formal committee papers to recommend further action with supporting evidence.
- Communicating with internal teams and firms to ensure the correct regulatory outcomes are achieved
- Contributing to a positive, supporting and proactive working culture by sharing knowledge and expertise both locally and across the organisation

The opportunity to:

- A chance to develop and enhance your abilities and knowledge through exposure to novel problems and the opportunity to use your professional skills in complex situations
- A challenging, interesting and diverse portfolio of work, working with colleagues with varied skills from across Enforcement and in other parts of the FCA
- Opportunity to develop stakeholder engagement skills, influencing and challenging where necessary
- Executive Decision Maker, RDC and Tribunal experience

Skills/Experience Required

Minimum
- Experience in any of the following areas: financial markets; regulatory investigations; investigations involving serious fraud or other complex financial crime; complex litigation or disputes.
- Experience in working in an office environment and using the MS Office Suite including, outlook, excel etc.
- Professional experience of drafting and preparing formal written communications.

If you are a lawyer applying, please ensure you are a Qualified lawyer, with a valid practising certificate issued by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for England and Wales (if a solicitor), or the Ge