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FourthLine’s first Retail Conduct event of 2018 was held at the highly impressive Sky Garden on Fenchurch Street, and focused on good conduct and culture and the link to leadership. We were joined by guest speaker Gary Storer from Enterprise Learning, who presented and led the group discussion. Jodie Sable, Managing Consultant of FourthLine's Retail Conduct team, summarises the main talking points of the event: .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Some of the key points raised and debated were: The FCA’s belief that culture, conduct and leadership are intrinsically linked The five key points the define good conduct culture: customer focus, capability, reliability, effectiveness and motivation Examples of the drivers of poor conduct The link to leadership: distinguishing drivers and capabilities How to develop the provider and consumer relationship Following the event, Gary gave us his thoughts on the importance of getting culture and leadership right. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Gary’s 6 tips to develop a stronger conduct culture were: Educate and develop your regulated leaders Benchmark your ‘conduct culture’ regularly, separately to staff engagement surveys HR should understand conduct and risk Risk specialists need to understand culture, leadership and organisations Make conduct, culture and leadership the purpose of SMCR Don’t ever assume your culture is fixed! It always needs to be worked on. What is conduct culture? Customer focus: the focus, encouragement and priority given by management throughout the organisation to deliver great customer outcomes Example: reward and recognition for outstanding customer service Capability: the value placed on continually developing staff and management ability to deal with customer requirements or complaints/issues directly or strategically Example: prioritising high quality training, coaching and feedback provided to customer service staff and managers at all levels Reliability: the importance given to ensuring customers can rely on the organisation to deliver its promises to them Example: the extent to which errors or complaints are prioritised and corrected for customers. Effectiveness: valuing effective processes and technology to support effective customer delivery Example: the extent to which leadership is perceived as investing in high quality technology and dealing with issues which compromise customer service. Motivation: how much staff and managers feel motivated to deliver fair customer outcomes and outstanding customer service Example: empowering and encouraging staff to support customers and ‘go the extra mile’ for them. If you would like to find out more abut any of the above points or discuss your resourcing requirements, contact FourthLine on 0203 800 1099 to discuss the ways in which we can help.    

2018 is proving to be a challenging time for sell side firms, as they face up to the uncertain challenge of Brexit whilst simultaneously navigating a myriad of potentially overlapping regulations. What is driving change within the Sell Side? There are a number of regulations affecting sell side firms that have either recently come into force or are approaching on the horizon, from MiFID II and GDPR to BRRD, SMCR and SFTR. Alongside this, Brexit is an ever-looming presence over financial services, with its timeline overlapping that of the regulatory reforms. This overlapping of deliverables in increasing critical dependencies across differing complex programs of work, ultimately increasing the risk of failure. Sell side firms are attempting to assess the operational impact of Brexit and prepare their new business models in response to its challenges, whilst operating in a state of uncertainty. In these politically uncertain times, firms need to prepare for the worst-case scenario of a hard Brexit and look at their licences, booking models, technology and resources. Firms would be wise to take on board some of the lessons learned from MiFID II, and not leave it too late to prepare. Although there is much uncertainty surrounding Brexit, talented specialists are going to be in extremely high demand. As Brexit will cover all sector and not just Financial Services, the supply of experts will be even more stretched. What skills and types of experts are in demand this year? With a wide selection of major regulations requiring attention from sell side firms to achieve ongoing compliance, we expect experts whose experience overlaps across these regulations to be in high demand. Expert talent who can take a holistic view and understand the impacts of these various regulations, and the way they work alongside each other, will be particularly desirable for employers. As firms continue to set up their Brexit programs, we are seeing demand for the following experts and related skill sets: Project/Program Managers - Regulatory Change Delivery specialists - Stakeholder management and end to end program/project design and delivery Business Analysts - Ability to conduct gap analysis on existing business models and overlay regulatory requirements, review existing legal entity structure, and the extent to which it will meet future requirements of the business and where change may be required - Design TOMS and identify options for updating entity structure Legal and Compliance Specialists - Contract negotiations, jurisdictional framework review - Legal documentation review specialists Operational Change Specialists - Agreeing process changes, booking models etc - Client re-papering - Running complex client outreaches HR Professionals - Resource management and restructuring Technology Professionals - Technology System Changes, software development Experts who have touchpoints with European regulators, specifically Irish or German, will also be wanted as firms build their operations in the EU. On a somewhat related note, there will also be demand for those who have experience of setting up new premises or offices. We are seeing demand for experts within our network who have proven experience in running multi-jurisdictional projects, with the ability to manage offshore teams, complex workstreams and navigate regulatory differences. Finally, we are also being contacted by clients looking for change communication specialists, who can effectively communicate change strategies across all areas of their business. What are FourthLine’s predictions for the rest of 2018? Whilst there is undoubtedly a huge amount of uncertainty surrounding Brexit, one thing we as a specialist recruiter can confidently predict is that there will be a huge demand for Brexit specialists, and that they will come at a premium cost. If your firm hasn’t already started preparing your Brexit program, we would advise you get in touch with FourthLine as soon as possible so we can connect you with the expert talent you need from within our extensive network. There is going to be a real stretch of resources, and not acting now could run the ultimate risk of firms not being able to do business following Brexit. The nature of Brexit’s requirements mean that we could see different organisations trying to do similar activities at the same time, potentially leading to regulatory congestion and processing delay. We anticipate some Financial Services firms will need to recruit from outside of Financial Services to find the talent they need, whilst conversely the cross-industry nature of Brexit could see non-Financial Services industries leveraging experienced talent from Financial Services. This could further reduce the size of the available resource pool. Under pressure to meet the challenges of overlapping regulations and Brexit, smaller firms may struggle to mobilise in time. We expect that as a result, we may see the merger of smaller brokerages so that they can stay competitive whilst also compliant.   If you’d like to find out more about any of the above points or discuss your recruitment requirements, get in touch with our Sell Side Regulatory Change team today.  

FourthLine work with clients across the insurance, banking and wider lending sectors, connecting them with the expert talent within our extensive network of expert talent. What types of skills are in demand? Across Retail Financial Services we see a consistent need for policy, advisory, monitoring and generalist compliance experience, which is usually the result of growth or the natural turnover of staff. As a rule, our smaller clients tend to favour candidates with more generalist experience so that they’re able to cover more areas. More recently we are seeing a lot of firms strengthening their back office infrastructure based on ever increasing regulatory scrutiny and consequently they’re in a position to invest in more specialist skills such as policy experts. As always, compliance needs to work with businesses and not against them so our clients are always asking us for candidates with good examples of working with stakeholders at all levels. This includes good influencing skills, an understanding of technical areas, and ensuring products have informed conversations at the right level. In terms of new skills, we’re seeing a very close link between Brexit and the need for candidates with policy or documentation review skills. Any changes that come in because of Brexit will mean a need to review an entire suite of policies. We are also seeing an increased demand for European language skills as a result of Brexit, as well as a desire for experience or knowledge of European regulation. Finally, in cases where smaller companies don’t have the budget or need for a Data Protection Officer, we are seeing a need for compliance professionals to upskill or develop broader expertise around data protection. What types of experts are in hire demand? We are seeing demand for the following types of experts: Separation/authorisation experts – the UK appears to be an appealing place to domicile a financial services business, but it does come with risks. Businesses who need to alter their permissions or apply for a full PRA license will be in need of authorisation specialists. Culture and Conduct experts – this year will see the FCA drive culture and conduct more than ever, so there will be a greater need for leaders to embed a strong conduct culture. We predict that firms will invest more heavily in training and competence at a senior level to help define and embed culture throughout their businesses. Technology – firms are embracing new technology across all of their operations, so candidates with experience of different technology platforms will be in high demand, as will those who are open to embracing new ways of working. What is driving change within Retail Finance and Insurance? There are several elements driving change across Retail Financial Services, from Brexit (which is driving change across the whole of the Financial Services environment) to regulations such as SMCR encouraging increased accountability and the 5th Money Laundering Directive. As mentioned above, new technologies are also a driving force of change. Another cause of change is the FCA increasing their efforts in relation to enforcement. The regulator also plans to look more closely at other culture and governance challenges, including remuneration, culture, and conflict of interest issues. Will firms need to reassess how they incentivise their 1st line of defence? What are FourthLine’s predictions for the rest of 2018? We expect to see salary increases across Retail Financial Services, as firms are working harder to ensure they retain their staff. Firms don’t want to lose the top talent or need to go through the difficult process of recruitment, and we’re seeing more counter offers than ever before. Saying that however, some firms are totally out of sync with the market when hiring new staff, especially when it comes to positions that they haven’t hired for before. If this doesn’t change, they are going to miss out on the best talent. The industry wide roll out of SMCR and increased accountability from a personal perspective will also drive salary increases. More generally, the market stays busy throughout the summer and into the final quarter of the year. We anticipate permanent regulatory compliance hires to remain stable, whilst we expect to see an increase in the need for interim regulatory specialists to provide support with regulatory change agendas, especially SMCR. If you’d like to find out more about any of the above points or discuss how FourthLine can assist with your resourcing requirements, get in touch with our Retail Conduct team on 0203 800 1566.

On the 16th May 2018 FourthLine hosted a breakfast briefing event focused on "How to select and interview high performance Data Protection Officers" at London's Sky Garden. We were joined on the day by guest speaker Rachel Mulligan, a qualified solicitor in the UK and Ireland and an Attorney-at-Law in New York. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }   Topics discussed on the day included: The DPO role – what is it, do you need one, where should the role sit within your organisation? Making the hire – creating the role and writing the job description, what qualities should a successful DPO possess? How to interview a DPO – what should you be asking them and how should you assess their answers? How to ensure the DPO succeeds in the role – what infrastructure and support do you need to provide? Watch our interview with Rachel to find out more about the role of the DPO and which skills are transferable to a DPO position. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } If you need any advice or support on bringing a data protection specialist into your business, contact FourthLine on 0203 800 1099 to discuss the ways in which we can help.

It’s fair to say that 2018 has been a huge year for data privacy, and it’s been a hot topic for discussion from boardrooms to newspaper front pages. As organisations have been taking the steps needed to meet the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), FourthLine’s Privacy team has grown into the largest specialist data privacy recruitment team in the UK. With 10 consultants solely focused on helping businesses make permanent and interim data privacy and information security hires across the Financial Services, Technology, Retail, Media and Publishing sectors, we consider what is driving hiring demand this year and what the rest of the year will have in store. What skills are in demand this year? With so much attention and resources being geared towards GDPR compliance, it’s unsurprising to find that demonstrable GDPR project experience is high up on the list of attributes that employers are looking for. There is a desire to see candidates who have led or contributed to the delivery of successful GDPR projects, from initiation through to closure with quality work delivered within the agreed timescale. Specific operational skills are going to be in high demand, with employers requiring expert talent who can look at policies and procedures, ensure they are up to date and then put them into practice across their business. The ability to produce quality risk assessments and Privacy Impact Assessments, or answer Subject Access Requests effectively and efficiently, are all going to be sought after skills. Experts with strong stakeholder management and relationship skills are also going to be in high demand this year. Where previously roles may have been focused around getting programs up and running with some stakeholder investment, there is now going to be a shift towards embedding data privacy practices within the culture of a company and educating staff cross the wider company. As we discussed in How to select and interview a DPO, DPOs who can relate and engage constructively across a business will be highly desirable for employers. Of course, not all data experts will necessarily have the strongest interpersonal skills, so there may be opportunities to provide content and guidance to professional trainers who can then come into an organisation and deliver the required training. What types of experts will be in hire demand? GDPR has led to an increased demand for Project/Program Managers and Business Analysts, usually brought in on contracts to deliver GDPR compliance within an organisation. We expect to see these types of experts still in demand as organisations continue to get themselves compliant, but with GDPR now here we should see organisations looking for permanent GDPR SMEs as companies think long-term about continued GDPR compliance and the embedding of data privacy practices at the heart of their outlook. Specifically, we expect SMEs with demonstrable data privacy experience, such as DPOs, Data Protection Consultants and Managers, and lawyers, to be in particularly high demand. As the supply of DPOs will be unable to meet such high demand, it’s possible that experts who were previously in interim roles could look to become DPOs in order to fill any gaps. We also anticipate a demand for data privacy trainers, who can either work in-house or come into a business and train staff on all matters of data protection. This could be an excellent career move for those currently working in interim roles who are coming towards the end of their contracts. What is driving change within the privacy sector? It goes without saying that GDPR is the biggest driver of change within the privacy sector, and this is expected to continue for at least the next 6 months as organisations continue to get themselves into a position of on-going compliance. The Data Protection Bill and the new ePrivacy Regulation can also be viewed as drivers of change, with the latter now expected to arrive next year and worthy of attention. The Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR) also needs to be considered, as it will hold senior managers to account for their organisation’s use of data. How is data privacy recruitment changing this year? The biggest shift we expect to see in the privacy sector this year is an increase in the demand for permanent rather than interim professionals, especially towards the later stages of the year. Contract employment was in high demand due to the pressure to deliver GDPR projects, but with contracts coming to an end as work is completed companies will now be looking more long-term in their privacy goals. We expect to see companies looking for full time DPO roles, as they consider ways to embed privacy into the heart of their business and develop an ethical culture of data processing. Indeed, any new product or project will be approached with data protection a consideration from the very start. Processes and procedures that were set up as part of GDPR programs will need to be continually reviewed and updated as businesses evolve. What are FourthLine’s predictions for the rest of 2018? At FourthLine we expect to continue assisting companies with the recruitment requirements of their GDPR projects across the remainder of 2018, but as mentioned above there should be a shift towards an increase in permanent roles later in the year. It’s probably fair to say that a lot will depend on what sort of penalties are handed out by the ICO to non-complying organisations. With companies trying to save money and a lack of experienced data professionals in the market, we should see organisations consider training up compliance juniors into DPO roles within their current company, potentially asking contractors to deliver training before their contracts finish. Alternatively, there me some lenience in skill set requirements, as there simply isn’t the supply of experienced DPOs to meet the current demand. We also expect to see data privacy experts moving from the public sector to roles within either the financial or wider private sector, and also foresee an increase in new data protection auditor roles. Finally, with the expected switch of contractors into permanent positions there could be a clash between candidate’s salary expectations and the reality of what companies are prepared to pay. Accustomed to high day rates, contractors may need to realign their expectations as they move to full time employment, but we may see salaries increase across the board as a result. If you’d like to find out more about any of the above points or discuss your data privacy recruitment requirements, get in touch with our Privacy team on 0203 800 1558.

2018 is proving to be a challenging year for Buy Side firms, with regulatory pressures increasing whilst the uncertainty of Brexit’s impact looms large. At FourthLine we are well positioned to help firms navigate these challenges and build their change programs, drawing upon our extensive network of expert talent. What is driving change within the Buy Side? The Buy Side is currently facing up to seismic shifts, as its landscape is transformed by new regulations and geopolitical uncertainty. MiFID II was implemented at the start of this year and with it came sweeping changes. Implementation was fairly smooth, but there is still a lot of work to be done particularly in the areas of Transaction Reporting, Costs & Charges and Research Payments. Brexit remains a complicated and uncertain issue for Buy Side firms, with its output unknown and clarity difficult to come by. It seems certain that it will lead many firms to relocate to Europe, and this will in turn drive demand for certain change professionals. Firms also need to look ahead to SMCR, due in 2019. Whilst final requirements are still to be confirmed, firms will need to ensure they are in a position to understand how the changes will affect their business and plan implementation strategies. What skills and types of experts are in demand this year? Whilst most firms have deployed compliant MiFID II solutions, as we move into Day 2 a significant number of contracts have not been repapered or are still being negotiated. This will lead to demand for legal professionals who specialise in the area. With many firms outsourcing their Transaction Reporting requirements to ARMs, there will also be a need for oversight specialists who have experience of designing and building oversight functions, as well as experts with strong vendor relationship management skills. Professionals with experience and knowledge of Research Payments and Costs & Charges are also likely to be in high demand. In relation to Brexit, we expect to see a huge increase in demand for contracted change experts across the whole project spectrum. Whilst we don’t know exactly what Brexit will look like at this point, professionals with knowledge of Passporting agreements for UCITs and AIFMD funds are likely to be in high demand, and there will undoubtedly be a requirement for regulatory lawyers and legal experts. Professionals with experience of corporate restructuring will be wanted, whilst the changes to derivative clearing should present opportunities for change professionals with knowledge of the current regulatory landscape and intricacies of the European Financial Services infrastructure. Firms looking ahead to SMCR will require change specialists who have successfully implemented SMCR within banking firms and those with HR experience with regulatory project work. How is the Buy Side changing this year? We expect the Buy Side to continue to see unprecedented levels of change, with much depending on how Brexit plays out in the UK. The impact of MiFID II will continue to be felt, with more responsibility on Buy Side firms to ensure that systems are working as they should be on a daily basis and a shift in the wider culture, with a greater need for transparency. The upcoming SMCR should also lead to a change in where accountability sits, and ultimately the way in which firms behave. What are FourthLine’s predictions for the rest of the year? By all accounts, the unpredictable nature of Brexit makes it extremely hard to predict what will happen over the next year to the Buy Side, though firms would be wise to plan for worst case scenarios. A lot will inevitably ride on what decisions are made with regards to access to the Single Market and the Passporting of funds. With regards to MiFID II, we anticipate that some firms may fall foul of the regulation as the FCA start handing out fines. In some cases, firms ran light MiFID II programs and mistakes will have been made, so we expect to see the recruitment of MiFID II experts throughout the year to assist with remediations. We also expect SMCR to drive demand for change professionals with a strong understanding of the senior management regime requirements, conduct responsibilities and regulatory reporting. If you’d like to find out more about any of the above points or discuss your recruitment requirements, get in touch with our Buy Side team on 0203 800 1568.  

Due to the recently implemented MiFID II Transaction Reporting requirements and extensive use of Approved Reporting Mechanism vendors like TRAX and UnaVista, asset management firms are likely to need to design, implement and build an oversight function to ensure that they are fully compliant in the future. On 1st May 2018, FourthLine hosted our MiFID II Transaction Reporting - Building ARM Oversight Functions breakfast briefing at London's impressive Sky Garden. We were joined by guest speaker and MiFID II consultant Kristian Martin-Dominguez who led an informative discussion on the opportunities and potential pitfalls of building this kind of function within an asset management firm. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }   Following the event, we caught up with Kristian to find out why oversight is important and how you should hold ARMs accountable. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }   If you are looking to build an oversight function within your business, contact FourthLine on 0203 800 1099 to discuss the ways in which we can help.

2017 was the first year that firms were audited under the FRC’s new standards, and it’s likely that the FCA were more lenient in their approach as a result. Following this year’s audit however, posted to the FCA on 30th April, it’s unlikely that the regulator will be quite so tolerant with fines again. The FCA will make the decision to scrutinise or investigate any audits that arouse suspicions, giving firms 48 hours’ notice for a spot check of their CASS RP. Whilst inside a firm, the FCA can also investigate compliance with other regulations such as GDPR or MiFID II, and issue a s166 notice if necessary. What types of experts will be in hire demand? At FourthLine we see a pretty consistent level of demand for CASS experts, but are there are two main types of experts that we expect to be in particularly high demand following this year’s audits. Firstly, we anticipate firms will be looking to bring in experienced TPA Oversight Specialists. As the FCA considers that the outsourcing firm holds responsibility to ensure that it has effective oversight in place, there will be a big demand for experts who can strengthen firms in this area. Reporting directly into the CF10a, TPA Oversight Specialists will need to go over all CASS dealings in fine detail, overseeing and monitoring collateral transactions. They will need to be able to analyse different outputs specific to their TPAs, identify areas of concern and address them. In addition, we also expect CASS Assurance Specialists to be in high demand. These experts control the mapping and testing of CASS within a firm, and whilst this job tended to be done thoroughly when the new rules were introduced, inevitably it’s likely that standards have now slipped. We wouldn’t be surprised if this hasn’t been tested or updated in some firms since last year, so bringing expertise into the assurance space should resolve any issues raised in this year’s audit and reduce the risk of an adverse audit in the future. What skills are in demand this year? There are typical skill sets that will always be in demand within the CASS market, and any expert with a thorough knowledge of CASS and the ability to demonstrate their experience will be sought after. In line with the roles discussed above, experts who have strong social and stakeholder management skills will be of particular use to potential employers. These roles require someone who can show assertiveness and push back when necessary, present to stakeholders and build strong relationships across the firm and with third parties. What is driving change within the CASS market? We expect remediations from the latest CASS audit will be the main driver of change within the CASS market this year. In particular, we anticipate a need for line-by-line rule mapping in response to the FRC’s new Assurance Standards. Additionally, oversight of TPAs will be another area driving change, with the FCA increasing their focus on TPAs due to a perceived underperformance. What are FourthLine’s predictions for the rest of 2018? We expect that the next 6-8 weeks will be very important within the CASS market, and we’ve been preparing thoroughly for this period. As firms start posting the results of their audits we should see an increased demand for CASS expertise, and FourthLine are ready to help firms with their resourcing requirements with up to 150 CASS specialists qualified within our network. We anticipate that the firms who have something to be worried about following the audit will be hearing from the FCA sooner rather than later, giving them more time to prepare for remediations. It’s likely that all firms will have some feedback to respond to, and whatever level of assistance you require, FourthLine can connect you to the expert talent you need to resolve any issues. Beyond this upcoming period of increased activity, we expect the rest of 2018 to be busy for our CASS team, partly driven by the knock-on effect of specialists changing roles and creating new openings in the previous companies, and partly due to the business as usual nature of CASS recruitment. Finally, we anticipate some demand for senior CASS experts in response to the Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SMCR) later in the year. Firms that currently have multi-control function holders are likely to be targeted by the FCA, who aren’t keen on individuals wearing too many hats within a firm. In these instances, we expect small firms to be looking for experienced CASS specialists to come into new dedicated CF10, CF10a or CF11 roles. If you’d like to find out more about any of the above points, or discuss your CASS recruitment requirements, get in touch with our CASS team on 0203 800 1553.

FourthLine’s Retail Conduct team supports clients across retail banking, wider lending, payments and insurance to hire risk management and assurance, regulatory compliance and change professionals on a permanent and interim basis.  Although our clients offer a diverse portfolio of products and services, we have identified considerable similarities in the candidate skills and experiences they value most when looking to hire business-critical regulatory talent. Balancing Commerciality with Compliance Companies want confidence that their board, senior management and wider leadership teams are making critical decisions with both growth and innovation in mind, as well as ensuring regulatory compliance and reducing the risk of reputational damage. How do we go about identifying regulatory professionals with this type of mindset? It does heavily depend on the businesses they have worked for, at what level and what type of exposure they have had to the launch of new products, new initiatives, acquisitions and more. It might be that they have been specifically involved in designing bespoke policies in relation to new products or sat on the board or a committee. The implementation and soon to be extension of SMCR should in theory mean that firms will have to make more balanced decisions and therefore the next generation of regulatory professionals will all have this mindset. Theory Vs Implementation When making critical hires, it’s essential to identify candidates with not only detailed theoretical understanding of existing and upcoming regulations, but also practical experience of implementing the associated changes. Knowledge of regulatory rules or handbooks alone without experience reviewing, amending and rolling out new policies and processes is often a concern for hiring managers with smaller teams where a more diverse skill set is needed. The ideal candidate will have experience of understanding the regulation and then creating fit for purpose solutions, across a variety of businesses with different needs or goals that allow for growth or innovation.  Experience working on change projects, whether driven by regulation or individual business change, is highly valued by hiring managers. When qualifying this experience, we look for evidence of ‘I’ vs ‘we’, the detailed impact of their involvement as well as seeking assurance of their contribution via testimonials. Effective stakeholder management I don’t think I have ever taken a job specification from a client where relationship building skills or effective stakeholder management has not been one of the most important things to get right in the hiring process. But what does that mean, and which stakeholders are we specifically referring to? We want to find candidates who are business facing and regularly meet with, advise and challenge other key decision makers within their firms. Most businesses say that want to build a compliant culture, or for compliance to work with the business and not against it, so it’s essential that compliance professionals find common ground with the first line of defence and wider business. An effective compliance professional will adapt their style based on the stakeholder they are working with and take time to understand their goals and deliverables to empathise. We would seek to understand the different stakeholders our candidate has worked with and what sort of challenges they have faced and overcome. Specialists vs Generalists Depending on the business, the structure of the team and the role itself, we are often asked to acquire candidates with either specialist or more generalist skills and experience. There are multiple ways in which we might differentiate or assess the two. Firstly, are we looking for specific skills, in a particular sector, or are we looking for an industry expert? Similarly, are we looking for a compliance generalist, who can turn their hand to writing policy, working on change projects, interpreting upcoming regulations and creating solutions or are we looking for more of an industry generalist such as compliance professional with varied experience across general insurance, retail banking or payments. There are of course advantages of hiring both, as mentioned above, dependant on the needs of the team and wider business. As Fourthline have a detailed knowledge of all compliance disciplines, we are skilled at recognising a true specialist vs key words on a CV! Qualifications As FourthLine’s Retail Conduct team works with firms across banking, wider lending, payments and insurance, we often find that certain qualifications are more desirable than others as a result. From a technical compliance perspective, ICA qualifications are strongly preferred and again dependant on the level of the role being recruited for. Sometimes more of an industry focused qualification is more desirable. Several mortgage provider clients insist on a CeMAp qualification to better understand the process that their mortgage advisors go through and to provide more empathetic advice. Our insurance clients prefer their compliance team to hold CII or ACII, sometimes instead of or in addition to ICA qualifications. Are they needed? I would always be inclined to argue that experience is more highly valued than qualifications. However, in a competitive market, qualifications might represent something further than just knowledge. Commitment and dedication to building a career in compliance is something hiring managers have recently asked to me ascertain. Personal investment in acquiring relevant qualifications is something I would review when assessing this. Culture Finally, I’d like to discuss the ever-topical issue of Culture. Arguably, ‘cultural fit’ is not a skill or experience, but it is definitely one of the most important things that my clients ask me to prioritise, no matter what size of the firm or whether the role is a permanent or interim hire. The skill of accurately assessing cultural fit and subsequently matching suitable candidates and clients is highly demanded of good recruiters in the sector. Following recent market research we have conducted, feedback from our clients suggests that this, in conjunction with our ability to understand and assess technical competence, is why they would choose to work with us over our competition. By taking the time to understand how our clients define their culture, we are able to shortlist candidates we’re confident share the same values, beliefs and have similar approaches and attitudes. The positive impact of valuing cultural fit as equally important as technical skills means both the candidate and client are given confidence that the career move or hire is going to be the right one. This has just been a snapshot of the in-demand skills and experience we’re looking to identify every day on behalf of our clients. Different firms will value and prioritise different profiles according to their company vision, culture, market position and existing talent. However, it’s also our responsibility to share these insights and support our valued network in making the right choices to invest in the skills, experience and qualifications that allow them to progress their careers and ultimately secure their dream roles. To discuss your recruitment needs with one of our team, please contact us.  

On 24th April 2018, Fourthline hosted an event at London’s Sky Garden on the topic of ‘Creating and delivering your Brexit programme’. Our guest speaker Remi Adebonojo, FCMI, guided the discussion to help our attendees understand the skill sets needed to create the best contingency plans and mobilise a programme delivery team. Following the event, we caught up with Remi to find out more about the challenges of preparing for Brexit from a financial services perspective. Why is creating your Brexit programme important at this time? What happened in the past with regulatory change programmes was that firms have waited until the deadline is looming to actually start work, but with Brexit, as it’s a political initiative, you’re not going to get the level of clarity required to deliver when you need to so the idea is to focus on your worst-case scenario now. There is a lot of change required, so you are going to have to consider whether you look at things such as authorisation. You’re going to have to look at it from an operational perspective as well, so what is your legal entity model going to be? How will you go about delivering on that? All of these things are going to take time, so you’ll need to start working on them now. To what extent do you think firms are engaged on their Brexit plans? There is a wide gap between firms at the moment. The bigger firms have done a lot of work and are fully engaged on it, whilst a lot of the smaller firms still haven’t decided what approach to take on Brexit, whilst some haven’t even started to look at it. That gap is what we’re looking at now and trying to resolve so that we can move things forward. I would say that firms are not 100% committed or focused on it yet, but over the next few months there will be a lot work started on it. To mobilise an effective Brexit program, what skills sets do you think will be most important? Like regulatory change programmes that have gone in the past, you will need someone who can bring all of this together. There will be several deliverables that you’ll need to co-ordinate, so you'll need a very strong project manager or programme manager, who can look at things end-to-end. You’ll also need people to support them, such as PMOs. Business Analysts who can understand the work that needs to be done, perform gap analyses on that work, and understand the operating models and design new ones will also be required. You need people from a legal background who can look at jurisdictions and negotiate contracts, and you’ll also need to bring HR to the table to look at resourcing and where resources will be based. And of course, you’ll need people from a technology background to look at this and understand what technology you require to move this forward.   If you’d like to receive the event follow up pack or discuss the ways in which FourthLine can help your firm prepare for Brexit, please contact our Sell Side Regulatory team through Gareth Foulkes. FourthLine are planning more events discussing Brexit and its implications for Financial Services firms, and you can find out about our future events at www.thefourthline.co.uk/events.

Held at the highly impressive Sky Garden on Fenchurch Street, the breakfast briefing lasted for 2 hours and included a 30-minute presentation and Q&A by one of the CASS experts in our network, Kenneth Green of Equilibrium Green. This was followed by a peer2peer discussion over breakfast. Kenneth advised what would happen if the FCA decided to undertake a 48-hour RP review and how best to prepare. Some of the key points discussed included: The FCA are likely to notify you of the 48-hour review via a call and will expect the CF10a to be on-site regardless of availability. Double check the RP and ensure complete accuracy, including getting a peer to fully check the links etc. Ensure that everyone who is involved with the RP and CASS in general is on-site and available to meet with the FCA associate. Appreciate that the visit hasn’t concluded until the FCA provide written confirmation. Ask for all feedback to be provided in writing, as verbal feedback may not be considered once the visit has concluded. Conduct a regular mock review of the RP by a 3rd party. Ask for a minute taker to ensure that everything discussed is well documented. After the event, we caught up with Kenneth to get his feedback on the event and find out more about how firms can prepare for a review. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Our next event will be an online webinar focusing around the importance of strong TPA oversight following the increase in demand for CASS Oversight professionals. We are expecting between 60-80 senior CASS professionals to be present on the call, so if you are interested in attending please contact James Carter on 0203 800 1553. FourthLine are offering a new service in the form of a mock CASS RP review conducted by Kenneth Green who has been involved with 19 different CASS RP’s. For more information, or to discuss any other recruitment needs in the CASS space, please feel free to contact us on the number above.

Many of our SME customers are reporting a lack of experience when it comes to hiring Data Protection practitioners combined with little knowledge on how to recognise, interview and select the best person for the job. That’s why we organised the webinar ‘How to select and interview Data Protection Professionals’ on 22nd March 2018. Featuring our speakers Dan Waltham, Head of Privacy Practice and Boris Wojtan, Privacy Director of GSMA, member of IAPP's European Advisory Board and a recognised authority on Data Protection, the webinar covers: Assessing a Data Protection CV – what should a Data Protection expert look for when assessing a candidate CV? How to interview for a Data Protection Practitioner – what should you be asking and how should you interpret the answers? Making the hire – ideas to gain flexibility in a talent short market Where to place the DPO - practical advice on where the DPO should sit within your organisation This webinar is for any hiring manager or internal recruiter facing that challenge and will offer practical tips to help overcome that current knowledge gap. Watch the webinar recording. Please note, we experienced some technical issues affecting the sound quality during the recording of this webinar, but this should only affect the beginning of the recording Keep an eye on our Events page for the latest specialist industry events and webinars we'll be hosting, giving you the opportunity to come together with our other clients and candidates to discuss best practice around a range of topics.

In June 2017 FourthLine held an event to help provide insight for non-banking retail financial services firms about how to manage their SMCR programme ready for implementation in 2019. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Keep an eye on our Events page for the latest specialist industry events we'll be hosting, giving you the opportunity to come together with our other clients and candidates to discuss best practice around a range of topics.  

The demand for CASS Professionals continues to increase year after year due to a continued focus by the regulator. This has resulted in a large skill shortage in the CASS space, especially at the senior end. CASS Compliance (2nd Line) CASS large firms are beginning to add a further layer to ensure CASS Compliance by introducing a CASS SME role within the 2nd line. This reduces the risk of any breaches going unnoticed by having a CASS Expert sitting within the Compliance team. Relationship Management Skills Following multiple fines due to failures in the oversight of firms TPA and other external partners, firms have looked to shore up the relationship management skills within the CASS team. This improves the accuracy of the firms' TPA and gives the firm an opportunity to push back when necessary. CASS Assurance Following the new FRC Assurance standards in 2017, firms have increased resources from a 3rd line/Assurance perspective. Last year, the regulator had likely been more lenient as it was the first year of the new audit standards, though the same can’t be said for 2018. Increasing expertise in the assurance space reduces the risk of an adverse audit. CF10a With the pending impacts of the Senior Managers & Certification Regime, smaller firms with multi control function holders in post will likely have to bring in someone to solely concentrate on each regulation. For example, each firm will either have to document the percentage of time dedicated to CASS, Compliance and AML, or they will have to appoint an individual for each regulation (e.g. a separate person for CF10, CF10a & CF11). To discuss your recruitment needs with one of our team please contact us.

As the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires certain organisations to appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO), we have unsurprisingly seen many businesses taking the steps needed to ensure they will be compliant come 25th May 2018. To tackle GDPR effectively, you need to ensure that you have the right person in the position of DPO to deal with all matters of data protection, ensure you are and continue to be compliant, and develop an ethical culture of data processing within your business. We outline some of the key things you should be looking for from a candidate, and how to go about interviewing them. Creating the role It goes without saying that you’ll be looking for someone with an expert knowledge of data protection laws and practices. A successful candidate needs to have a thorough understanding of GDPR, and ideally previous data protection laws as well. The guidelines for GDPR don’t specify any formal qualifications needed to become a DPO, and in our opinion actual hands on experience is as important as qualifications if you are to get the right candidate. In an ideal world you’d be able to recruit somebody with 5-7 years of experience, who can demonstrate that they have created data privacy policies and programs and embedded these within a business, as well as carrying out data privacy impact assessments. In the current climate this could be difficult though, as the demand for DPOs far outweighs the amount of available DPOs out there, so you may need to carefully consider the level of experience needed for the role you are hiring. Of course, for larger firms you are going to need somebody with a good level of experience, but depending on the level of risk facing your business you may be able to start with somebody less experienced and invest in that person within the role. Be prepared to resource some external support though to ensure you are still getting the advice you need to ensure compliance. When it comes to setting out the duties for the role, it’s going to very much depend on the size of your business. If you have decided that you require a dedicated DPO, then the duties need to be comprehensively focused around data protection. The person needs to be able to set strategy, create policies and make them relevant to your business, understand how to evaluate risk within your business from a data point of view, and educate your employees (and potentially customers) on matters of data protection. They should be able to respond quickly to subject access requests, data breaches and complaints, and continually monitor policies and the effectiveness of your data privacy programs. In addition, there are going to be a variety of characteristics you’ll be looking for from a DPO, including strong communication skills, the ability to organise well, a keen attention to detail and the capacity to work independently and impartially to name but a few. Interviewing a candidate To find the right person to fill a hugely important role within your organisation, you will need to make sure that you get the interview process right and that you’re asking the right questions to assess a candidate’s suitability. Essentially what you’re trying to find out is how much hands-on data privacy experience they’ve had in terms of establishing policies, implementing programs, and rolling out training within a business. It would be wise to keep an open mind and be prepared not to find somebody who can tick every single box you’re looking for, as it’s unlikely you’ll be able to find a candidate who has experience of everything on your wish list. Consider what the absolute deal breakers are, but give yourself some flexibility. Look at the person in front of you and consider how much they could bring to your team and business on a whole. Some things you may want to try and find out about the candidate during the interview process include: What is their understanding of current security and technology issues and how they relate to Data Protection? What are their interpersonal skills like? Are they a business enabler? (To test this, you could ask for examples of times that they have added value to a project, brought innovative ideas, or made a process more efficient.) The one area that is crucial to almost every aspect of the DPO role is that they can relate well to people right across your business. You need to find somebody who can engage constructively and let people know that they are on their side, so find ways to test this in a candidate. You could find someone who knows the law inside and out, but if they can’t communicate it to the wider business then this could create a poor relationship with the DPO role and data privacy in general. Need any help? If you would like some advice around hiring a DPO or with your data privacy resourcing requirements, please contact Fourthline on 0203 800 1099 or email enquiries@thefourthline.co.uk.  

2018 is set to be another year of turbulent change within Investment Management firms, driving the market's demand for Regulatory, Risk, and Compliance professionals. These are some of the key areas that I believe will be behind this demand: Brexit Whilst Brexit is highly likely to mean that Financial Services firms relocate a number of staff to European cities, as with all large-scale change it is also likely to drive demand for certain types of staff, such as change professionals and lawyers. We anticipate a spike in demand for contract change professionals across the whole project cycle, with a particular emphasis on the following: Passporting Arguably one of the most prevalent of impact areas, professionals with knowledge of Passporting agreements for UCITs and AIFMD funds will be in demand. Despite there now being less than a year left until the transition deal begins, there a still no concrete arrangements beyond the 2 year easing-in period. Phillip Hammond has signalled that the EU’s ambiguous proposal for ‘improved equivalency’ is “wholly inadequate”, meaning that there is some tough negotiating ahead before we know what access will be on the basis of. Regardless of the outcome, this type of professional will be in demand as there will be inevitable change requiring SME knowledge.   Clearing Another area likely to experience change is derivative clearing. Currently, Euro-denominated derivatives-clearing is largely conducted out of London but this has already become a point of contention, with other European cities vying to be the post-Brexit clearing centre. Change professionals with experience of MiFIR Best Execution are likely to be useful to Brexit programmes, as they have a knowledge of the current-state regulatory landscape and the intricacies of the European Financial Services infrastructure. Legal As with any kind of change, there will be huge amount of legal negotiations and agreements necessary regardless of the outcome. There has already been a large spike in demand for regulatory lawyers post-MiFID II implementation and this trend is likely to continue throughout the next few years as a result of Brexit. MiFIR Whilst MiFID II implementation on 3rd January seems to have been relatively smooth, there is still plenty of work to do for firms. There are 2 particular areas that I see driving hiring demand over the course of the year: Transaction Reporting With many firms outsourcing their Transaction Reporting requirements to ARMs like UnaVista or TRAX, there is a need to put in place robust oversight functions internally to ensure that the flow of data and reporting is accurate and timely. This will drive hiring demand for professionals with experience of designing and building oversight functions, as well as people with strong vendor relationship management skills. Payment for Research A continued point of contention, professionals with experience and knowledge of the Research Payments area of MiFID are still likely to be in demand across the Buy-Side. There are on-going challenges for firms in identifying material and services which fit the definition of investment research that falls under the regime. Firms will need to ensure that they are not underpaying and being induced. Research Payment Account (RPA) users will also need to closely manage their evaluation procedures, client disclosures and operating research payment budgets. In addition, I expect the following areas to also drive recruitment decisions this year: Post-Trade Transparency Although most reporting will continue to be carried out by trading venues and  Systematic Internalisers (SI), trades executed off-venue need to be reported by the seller if neither or both of the counterparties is an SI . This regime officially comes into force on 1st September 2018 and so far many counterparties have not ‘opted-in’ despite steps being taken to try and understand whether they will be acting as SI’s. As a result, it is likely that buy-side firms will have reporting obligations, which will drive demand for contractors who worked on the Post-Trade Transparency of MiFIR prior to implementation.   Best Execution The next challenge for firms from a Best Execution perspective is the RTS 28 reporting requirements with reports due on 30th April 2018. Whilst many of the processes will already be in place, there is still likely to be a need for professionals accustomed to this part of the regulation. There will be demand within Compliance Monitoring and Regulatory Reporting functions due to the need for robust and enhanced monitoring procedures to keep track of the vast amounts of execution quality data which SI’s and venues will need to report quarterly.   SMCR Despite the FCA’s Senior Managers and Certification Regime being scheduled for implementation in mid-late 2019, it has been noted that the day-to-day workload of the programme will be quite high. This is likely to drive hiring demand for change professionals who have successfully implemented SMCR within banking firms.   GDPR and Data Protection With implementation of GDPR set for May this year, the race is already very much on to deliver on time. The demand for GDPR professionals has already been nothing short of enormous this year and last. Data Protection will remain a major topic of focus post-GDPR implementation that will further fuel the demand for practitioners. To discuss your recruitment needs with one of our team please contact us.

FourthLine have had many conversations with our clients about GDPR, and this article aims to answer some of the most common questions that are put to us as organisations look to take on a DPO. What is the DPO? Although the specific role of the DPO is not clearly defined within the GDPR, they are going to have responsibility for all issues relating to the protection of personal data within your organisation, ensuring that you are compliant with GDPR requirements. They will act as figurehead for data protection and will be afforded some protected and independent status under GDPR. It’s important that you think of the DPO as a business enabler. It will be their role to go around your business teams helping them to establish new processes or develop new products or services, and they should do it in a way that puts data protection at the heart of what your doing from the outset. This will ultimately lead to better services and products in the long term. Try not to think of it as a trade-off between data protection compliance versus what you need to do as a business. If anything, you should think beyond compliance and consider what you should be doing from an ethical point of view. Of course, the DPO needs to think about compliance, but they also need to help your business make ethical judgements and decisions around how you want to behave with regards to personal data. Do you need a DPO? The GDPR outlines the different types of organisation that need to appoint a DPO, but again some of the terms and considerations are a bit vague. Ultimately it’s a judgement call on your behalf. It’s worth taking a step back from the regulation and consider the relevance of data processing to your organisation. What data do you have? What do you do with it? Are there any inherent risks to your data processing activities? If you are carrying out large scale processing of data or you’re using data analytics in a significant way to drive your business strategy, then you are a data driven business and probably require a DPO. However, if you find that you are only processing employee data then perhaps you don’t need to hire a DPO (though it may be worth hiring a data protection professional voluntarily to mirror the role of a DPO to ensure you do remain compliant). Where should the DPO sit? This is a question that comes up time and time again, and unfortunately there isn’t one single right answer. Ultimately, as long as there is no obvious conflict of interest, then where you place the DPO doesn’t matter. The most important thing is that they are empowered to work across multiple functions to get the job done. Ask yourself what the driving decision is behind hiring a DPO. If you are primarily looking to make your organisation GDPR compliant, then you may want to sit them within your legal team. On the other hand, if you’re looking for the DPO to drive behavioural change and adopt a holistic approach, then you may want to put them into a more operational role. What qualities should a DPO possess? There are many qualities you should be looking for from a DPO. Beyond the more obvious attributes, such as expertise in the area of data protection law or understanding how IT or security systems work, it’s important that you hire somebody who is able to build networks in all areas of your business, and across geographical borders if necessary. The DPO you appoint should be able to balance both the operational and regulatory angle of the role. Essentially, they need to be able to design policies and processes, but also roll up their sleeves and get things done when required. They should be a business enabler with an ethical mindset and the ability to strategically think about the data in your business and the direction you are taking with your data.     Should you outsource or share a DPO? If you didn’t want to employ a full time DPO then there is the option to outsource the position, and it’s something that several clients have discussed with us. Outsourcing would work best if your data activity is straightforward, but there is the potential that it could lead to a cautious, safety-first approach whereby the outsourced DPO identifies some of the risks without helping you to find a solution. Another idea that has been suggested by clients is the option of sharing a DPO with other firms or organisations. Again, this is a possibility if your data processing is fairly simple, and if you are completely certain that there is no conflict of interest or competition conflict with the organisation you are sharing a DPO with. It’s worth remembering though that the GDPR states that your DPO should be ‘easily accessible’ by any organisation this person works with, so this could become more difficult if they are working for several organisations at once. What are your next steps? If you would like to discuss whether your organisation requires a DPO or need some help resourcing a DPO or any other data privacy role, please contact FourthLine on 0203 800 1099 or email enquiries@thefourthline.co.uk.

In May 2017, FourthLine held a CASS Forum to provide senior CASS professionals with a place to discuss and debate current themes connected to the changes in CASS under the FRC Assurance Audit Standard. Take a look at our video below for some insight into some of the topics that were discussed on the day. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Keep an eye on our Events page for the latest specialist industry events we'll be hosting, giving you the opportunity to come together with our other clients and candidates to discuss best practice around a range of topics.    

One of my key responsibilities as Managing Director at FourthLine is to ensure that we are meeting the demands and needs of our customers month in, month out.  I feel immense pride when I oversee a successful recruitment process, where a client finally secures the specialist talent that will help them prevent risk in their respective organisation after many months of struggles via generic channels.  Choosing a strategic position of “risk recruiter specialisation” is born out of an ethos that in order to best serve the customer you must focus the whole of the organisation on the risk management audience in which you serve daily, as opposed to giving into the temptations of other recruiters who have driven into “other head office” disciplines such as HR or Finance.  This is our tried and tested approach: Focus, Focus, Focus Here at FourthLine we help clients recruit risk management experts that help organisations prevent risk. Clients request risk experts from FourthLine across a broad range of needs, such as building permanent risk function capability, supporting with risk advice, helping drive change across the risk management function or helping to make critical decisions. Our daily focus across the whole of our organisation on building our risk management recruitment capability means we are uniquely placed to provide the right risk expert to help you prevent risk in your organisation. Get the upstream bit right With over 35 risk recruiters networking in the market daily, we generate powerful insights through focusing our networking discussions around the things that matter. We possess insights about what makes a high performing risk expert from a skills, behavioural and performance perspective and also understand the risk management professional better than generic recruiters, which can often help our customers shape candidate attraction strategies.  Our customers expect us to respond to skill shortages in the market, so that is what we do through constantly monitoring changes in the market via our upstream framework. Build & know your network Any organisation can build networks of people, but true value is created by knowing which skills and expertise are in demand and invest resources in developing networks of these capabilities prior to the upward curve of demand.  For example, the global data protection regulation will create a skill shortage of over 80,000 data privacy professionals so we have been investing significantly in building our data privacy capability.  We are monitoring developments around automation to see how this technological shift might impact the need for quality management experts to provide assurance to automated tools. Then it is about spending time with the network in order to develop the knowledge of who the true leading experts are, who is in demand, and who can truly help our customers prevent risk. Service To deliver great service to customers, you need to recruit talent who possess the ability to deliver service.  For us, the service to our customers begins with recruiting exceptional talent who are relationship centric and have a real interest in serving the needs of our customers in the risk management field.  We focus their early stage learning around how to identify high performing experts in their discipline, so they possess the knowledge to advise clients on which candidates to interview and select. The service begins with our consultants being able to demonstrate quickly that they can ascertain an accurate understanding of the expert you are looking to recruit, and then responsively presenting a high-quality shortlist so you can make your selection. Be Reliable We take the value of reliability very seriously, so we don’t recruit outside of our field of specialisation. Why would we? We would be pretty hopeless at knowing the best people. Reliability is also about process reliability; our service is designed to create high quality expert options so that you can make an informed selection decision. We would not be delivering on our process reliability ethos if we only send you one expert. Furthermore, we’ll also monitor our service delivery post engagement to ensure we are delivering on the goal of risk prevention for your organisation.   So, without giving away too much of the magic formula the above is a small insight into how our service is designed at the FourthLine of defence. A mix of decisions, intelligence, network building and service gets the job done for us.

We believe that finding the right recruitment partner for your business is an essential part of the process to the right hire. 1. Industry knowledge In many businesses the HR team may have agreed terms with recruiters who are broad and can cover most aspects of the business's recruitment needs. Whilst this is beneficial at times those roles that require specific technical expertise, especially those in niche industries will find this does not work for them. Choosing a recruitment partner who has a niche specialism in your sector is imperative to recruiting your role right first time. That specialism should be easy to demonstrate when you do your initial research into making that decision on who to partner with and further demonstrated in your preliminary conversations with the consultancy. 2. Reputation It’s easy to have a view on recruitment, this comes with your own experience and that you will hear through colleagues. Take some time to look at what brands the recruitment consultancy can demonstrate they work with (not just a list) and ask them to explain their relationship. Another important facet is their tenure; how long have they been doing what they do and can they evidence success? 3. Quality of the database and outreach What level of proactive candidate search should you expect from your chosen recruitment partner and can you be sure that they are working hard enough on your behalf? Many recruitment consultants will work from their databases of those candidates actively looking for roles, but what if the ideal person you need for your role isn’t currently active in their search? At FourthLine, not only do we have an unrivalled network in risk and compliance candidates we also proactively profile ideal individuals and create an inventory of those ready for your digest. 4. Quality of the recruiter The relationship between you and the recruitment consultant is very important and the understanding they have of your business will often make the difference in them finding the right candidates. Add to that the role that the consultant plays in easing your administrative workload should not be underestimated, especially when the number of initially suitable candidates looks high. A good recruitment consultant will do enough preliminary work to create the best shortlist for your role, allowing you to not waste time on candidates who are unsuitable. 5. Level of service and fees Be sure you know what you are paying for, if there is no placement then presumably no fee. However, consider what time that will have cost you to conclude that there was no one suitable in the shortlist. Similarly, what percentage recruitment fee are you paying if all you are getting is a quick database search and shortlist? Is that worthy of the fee? Ask the consultancy to explain their approach, what they do proactively and what additional costs there may be for your business. 6. Are they a good employer? Recruitment can be a hard industry to work in yet there are many notable examples of consultancies getting the approach right. Check out your recruitment partner – do their values fit with yours, do they value their employees and what is the culture like? Working with a consultancy that fits with your business ethos will cement the collaboration further. 7. Rapport and trust Ultimately any business partnership needs to be built on trust; trust that the consultant working on your behalf can represent your business with authority and trust that they will do their very best to find the right candidate for the role. If your homework on reputation, quality of recruiter and values of the business have been done correctly then you should be able to build a high performing partnership. FourthLine are a specialist risk and compliance boutique recruitment consultancy offering contingent, retained and interim and contractor solutions. FourthLine work flexibly to find the best solution to your resourcing needs. In the last six years over 500 finance regulated businesses have engaged with us to recruit risk and compliance experts.

Here at FourthLine we work flexibly to find the best solution for your resourcing needs, working closely to ensure these six key considerations are satisfied. Strategy What is the client’s recruitment strategy and how does the role fit into the overall business plan and structure? How can we ensure that the role is aligned to business objectives and how easy is that to demonstrate to the best candidates? The most in demand candidates will want to understand not only the scope of the role but also the direction of the business. We spend time with you to understand the complexities of your business. This partnership allows us to be agile and effectively manage the pipeline of recruitment needs without the risk of losing out on the best talent. Cultural Many clients focus solely on the technical skills, yet in some cases this can lead to the perfect role capability but an inability to seamlessly fit into the existing teams and influence the most senior of stakeholders. We work closely with our clients to understand not only the desired technical expertise but to also get a deeper sense of the culture of the business and the team the role will reside in. Technical With many of the key technical skills in great demand, how can you ensure that a candidate can reliably demonstrate those skills in an interview setting? How do you get the balance right between hands-on technical expertise plus the ability to see the bigger picture and think strategically? Working in partnership with your recruiter you can be assured that their sector knowledge will help you make the right choices in a timely fashion. Process How fast can the business move to secure the very best talent within such a competitive market if the recruitment process is over engineered? This may result in the loss of a key hire. It’s vitally important to have all the paperwork agreed before the hiring process starts and any contentious issues around recruitment costs settled. Retained search is best suited to this challenge and is by far the best methodology to recruitment process challenges. Society We are at the cusp of a meaningful change in traditional working patterns. The part that millennials play now in the workforce is significant and with the demand for flexible work schedules and a growing remote workforce how does your business ensure it is tapping into and satisfying that talent too? We advise you on examples of best practice and how to make this all work for your business. Influences The role that social media and review sites play in how candidates navigate the recruitment landscape is notable. How well is your business portrayed on social media and how can you use that to your advantage in the recruitment process? Do you know what your digital presence is and how to maximise that to your advantage? At FourthLine we build high performing risk and compliance teams that protect business integrity and brand reputation. We work closely with your business to navigate this ever-changing recruitment landscape, proactively working with you to secure your next hire.   To discuss your recruitment needs with one our team please contact us.

Tell me about your FourthLine journey? I come from a property background, originally with a Masters obtained from The University of Manchester in Planning. Following graduation, I spent a year working with a Commercial Surveyors in a sales and account management role before moving into a similar role within consumer credit with American Express. After three years of working with Amex I decided that I wanted to move into financial services recruitment. After numerous interviews and a few offers from various firms, I came across FourthLine. It was very quickly clear that FourthLine was the small but rapidly growing recruitment business I was looking for and I accepted the offer that day. Since then, I’ve been promoted four times in three years from Trainee Consultant to my current role as Head of Capital Markets Practice. What is your area of specialism? Buy-side compliance, regulation and risk I manage a team of eight specialist Consultants covering compliance, regulation and risk within asset managers, hedge funds, wealth managers, private banks, wrap platform, IFAs and all other buy-side related firms and intermediaries. What is your view on the market right now? Looking into 2018, we are anticipating a huge amount of MiFID II remediation work as the majority of buy-side firms are already acknowledging that there will be gaps in their delivery. Aside from MiFID II, the main market drivers within the buy-side over the course of 2018 are likely to be based on SMCR, PRIIPs and Brexit, whichever form it eventually takes. Other geopolitical risk such as the outcome of the US election and the turmoil that this has created are also likely to have an impact on hiring How is FourthLine different? We are genuine specialists in our respective fields with a very specific focus on niche areas. This allows our consultants to develop a deep understanding of their markets and proactively build inventories of the top 20% of industry talent in line with upstream market drivers. Top tip to candidates Work only with specialists who have a genuine understanding of the market. Avoid generic recruiters who work across multiple disciplines, as they will never fully understand your background and role preferences.

Tell me about your FourthLine journey? After 15 years’ experience in sales and recruitment, including working as a founding member of a small technology recruitment business, I was approached by Kieran the FourthLine founder to be part of the business and his vision. I have been with FourthLine for over five years, starting as a senior consultant and the first permanent recruiter in the business. I progressed to principal consultant looking after London market compliance recruitment then moved up to manage the permanent practice before starting the data protection practice just over one year ago. What is your area of specialism? I manage FourthLine’s Data Protection team. We have a team of nine recruiters all focused on identifying data protection practitioners, lawyers and change professionals. Due to significant regulatory pressure brought about by the GDPR implementation deadline, it is an extremely competitive and high growth area. In line with our brand we have recruited in this space as part of our regulatory offering and pride ourselves on the depth and reach of our candidate network built as a result of significant investment over the past five years. What is your view on the market right now? This is a highly competitive market due to regulatory pressures and many firms are racing to hire a DPO before the market for quality hires becomes too difficult to navigate. Many of these companies have never hired for a DPO or any kind of data protection professional before and are finding it tricky to understand what 'good looks like'. This means that many firms are making rushed or unsuccessful hires. FourthLine are trying to help the data protection community by designing a DPO interview template and a DPO competency framework to help firms make better hiring decisions. How is FourthLine different? FourthLine truly take pride and care about the careers of the people who work here, our investment in training means we offer an unrivalled understanding of the recruitment landscape in GRC disciplines. We know what we stand for and every decision is underpinned by our ambition and vision to become the leading UK recruiter in risk and compliance. Top tip to candidates Just do your very best and try not to rush your answers without thinking through the questions.