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With time ticking on towards December, there’s no shortage of SMCR fearmongering. People without a SMCR project plan in place are starting to worry.
But if your SMCR project hasn’t really got going yet, all is not lost. It’s perfectly possible to deliver a robust, yet proportionate SMCR implementation in a few months. But you do need to get things moving. Some elements of the regime will be like ‘herding cats’ and can take more time than you expect.
The SMCR project plan
With SMCR, the ‘devil is in the detail’. Getting everything done will involve many separate but inter-dependent workstreams, multiple stakeholders and increasingly tight time frames. To stand a chance of getting over the line by 9 December, you need to stick to a project plan, identifying all of the constituent workstreams and their key deliverables, with owners and timeframes for each.
The smaller your firm, the more straightforward your project will be. For many, a simple spreadsheet-based project plan is enough to properly record what needs to be done when, and by whom.
The best way to get the ball rolling, is to put the SM&CR Working Group in a room together for a few hours and map out and agree the project plan. The Working Group should then meet regularly – at least fortnightly – to review progress, identify any sticking points and continually refine deliverables and timelines. Delays and obstacles should be escalated via the senior project sponsor, and any blockages dealt with accordingly.
How we can help
Bovill has extensive experience of helping our banking and insurance clients with their SM&CR implementation. We are now working with solo-regulated clients who are preparing for 9 December 2019. We have developed a full SM&CR implementation toolkit and several support packages designed to help our smaller and less complex clients implement the regime in a robust, yet cost-effective manner. For those larger or more complex clients, we can provide a full and completely bespoke support service, tailored to meet your explicit needs and requirements.
We hope you find our tried-and-tested project plan useful and do let us know if you have any questions.
