Financial Services Recruiter – Compliance, Regulatory Reporting Specialists

FD Capital is a specialist recruitment firm placing senior risk, compliance, financial crime, regulatory reporting, treasury and finance leadership into UK financial services businesses. Our practice covers the full spectrum of FCA-authorised and PRA-regulated firms — from small AIFMs and payment institutions through to mid-market wealth managers, consumer credit lenders, insurance intermediaries, fintech and crypto-asset firms, and challenger banks. We work on permanent, fractional, part-time and interim terms, applying the engagement-model flexibility that has defined our finance leadership practice since 2018 to the regulated-firm market. Every search is led personally by a senior consultant, supported by a candidate database of SMF-experienced individuals across the principal firm types and regulatory frameworks. The firm is founder-led by Adrian Lawrence FCA, who holds an ICAEW practising certificate.

What We Offer Financial Services Firms

Our regulated-firm services cover the principal hiring scenarios that FCA-authorised firms encounter, and we structure each engagement around the specific demands of the role and the regulatory environment.

Permanent Senior Manager Function appointments

For full-time SMF appointments — SMF2 Regulated CFO, SMF4 CRO, SMF16 CCO, SMF17 MLRO and others — we plan the search around the FCA pre-approval timetable, which typically runs three to six months from application to confirmation. Every candidate is screened against the FCA’s fit and proper criteria, and we prepare the regulatory references, statements of responsibilities and approval documentation firms need to submit.

Fractional, part-time and interim regulated hires

For smaller authorised firms and for transitions where a permanent SMF holder is not the right commercial answer, we place fractional Chief Risk Officers, part-time MLROs, interim Heads of Compliance, and Operational Resilience leads engaged through DORA implementation. Our active candidate database includes SMF-experienced individuals who have chosen the fractional model deliberately, often after senior careers at larger institutions.

FCA authorisation hires

For firms preparing applications for FCA authorisation, we place the senior compliance, risk and finance hires the regulator’s threshold conditions require, with searches structured to align with the application timetable rather than presenting a candidate and discovering the appointment becomes the binding constraint on the application.

Section 166 and Skilled Person work

Where firms need to commission a Skilled Person review under section 166 of FSMA, or where a regulator-mandated remediation programme requires temporary senior capability, we identify experienced reviewers and interim leads from a network of former regulators, Big Four partners, and senior compliance professionals.

The Authorised Firms We Work With

FD Capital works across the regulated-firm spectrum. Our consultants understand the distinct regulatory architecture, prudential framework and commercial dynamics of each firm type rather than treating “financial services” as a single category.

Investment management and AIFMs

We place senior finance, risk and compliance leadership into UK Alternative Investment Fund Managers, including small registered AIFMs, sub-threshold AIFMs and full-scope authorised AIFMs. Our network covers both private equity and venture capital fund managers and credit, real estate and infrastructure managers.

MIFIDPRU investment firms

For MIFIDPRU investment firms, including SNI, non-SNI and Class 1 firms, we place SMF2 CFOs, CROs and senior compliance leadership with direct experience of the MIFIDPRU prudential regime, ICARA, K-factor calculations and the Investment Firms Prudential Regime governance expectations.

Payment institutions and electronic money firms

Payments and e-money firms have specific regulatory and operational demands — safeguarding requirements, capital adequacy under the PSRs and EMRs, and the operational resilience demands of high-volume real-time payments. We place senior finance, risk and compliance leadership with hands-on experience of the regime.

Wealth management and IFA networks

For wealth managers, IFA networks and discretionary fund managers, we place senior compliance, MLRO, financial crime and CFO appointments with experience of Consumer Duty implementation, the SM&CR enhanced regime where applicable, and the prudential frameworks affecting investment-permission firms.

Insurance and intermediation

For PRA-regulated insurers, Lloyd’s market businesses and FCA-only insurance intermediaries, we place CFO, Chief Risk Officer, Chief Actuary support, and senior compliance roles. Our network covers Solvency II reporting, ORSA preparation and the conduct expectations of the FCA insurance handbook.

Consumer credit firms

For consumer credit lenders, motor finance providers, BNPL firms and debt management businesses, we place senior compliance, financial crime and CFO appointments with experience of CONC, affordability assessment expectations, and the Consumer Duty consequences for lending and intermediation businesses.

Fintech and crypto-asset firms

For fintech businesses spanning payments, lending, savings, investment and crypto, we place senior leadership through both early-stage authorisation processes and post-authorisation scaling. Our network includes individuals with cryptoasset registration experience and MLR-registered firm compliance leadership.

Banks and challenger banks

For UK retail and wholesale banks, building societies and challenger banks, we place senior risk, treasury, finance and compliance roles, including SMF2 CFOs, CROs and Heads of Regulatory Reporting with capital and liquidity reporting depth.

Senior Roles We Place

Our regulated-firm placements span the senior compliance, risk and finance functions. Each role is supported by a dedicated service page covering the regulatory background, candidate profile and search approach.

How We Match Candidates to Firms

The matching process is where most generalist recruiters fall short on FCA-regulated mandates. A senior compliance officer who excelled at a wholesale bank may be entirely the wrong fit for a small AIFM, even if the role title and SMF designation are similar. The regulatory architecture, the commercial pressures, the team size, the relationship with the regulator, and the day-to-day rhythm of the work are all materially different. Getting this right requires consultants who understand both halves of the equation.

Founder-led, ICAEW-credentialed approach

Adrian Lawrence FCA, founder of FD Capital, holds an ICAEW practising certificate and personally oversees senior regulated-firm searches — particularly first-time SMF appointments and FCA authorisation applications, where founder-level engagement matters to the client. He is available directly on every brief that warrants this level of attention. Each search is supported by a senior consultant with substantive experience of the regulatory framework the client operates within rather than by a generalist passed a brief.

Fit and proper screening before shortlist

Every candidate we present has been screened against the FCA’s fit and proper criteria covering competence and capability, honesty, integrity and reputation, and financial soundness. We work through previous SMF approval history, regulatory references, and the candidate’s understanding of the specific regulatory framework relevant to the client.

Shortlist within 5–10 working days

For most fractional and interim mandates we deliver a shortlist within five to ten working days. For permanent SMF appointments where FCA approval is required, we structure the search with the approval timetable in mind so that the candidate’s regulatory clearance does not become the binding constraint on the start date.

Confidentiality by default

Senior compliance and risk searches are confidential by their nature. Most of our regulated-firm mandates involve direct outreach to passive candidates who are not actively on the market, and we routinely run searches without disclosing the client until the right point in the process. This matters particularly for SMF transitions, internal restructures, and any search where the incumbent is still in post.

Regulatory Frameworks We Cover

FD Capital’s consultants and candidate network cover the principal regulatory frameworks affecting UK authorised firms. Each framework is supported by dedicated guidance and a recruitment service page.

For Financial Services Candidates

We work with senior compliance, risk, financial crime, regulatory reporting and finance professionals across the FCA-regulated firm market. If you are an SMF holder considering your next move, a senior compliance professional looking at fractional or portfolio engagements, or an experienced regulator considering a move into industry, we would be glad to hear from you.

Most of our candidate engagements are confidential. We will not share your CV or details with any client without your explicit consent for that specific opportunity, and we will not list you in a database accessible to clients on a self-service basis. The relationships we build with senior regulated-firm candidates are long-term — many of our placements come from candidates who have worked with us across multiple roles over several years, or who have moved between permanent and fractional engagements as their circumstances changed.

If you would like to register your interest, please submit your CV through our candidate portal, or contact Adrian directly for a confidential conversation about senior SMF and compliance opportunities.

Guidance and Resources

FD Capital maintains a substantial library of guidance covering the principal regulatory frameworks, role types and firm types relevant to FCA-authorised businesses. The content is written by senior practitioners and is intended to be useful to anyone considering a senior regulated-firm hire, whether or not they are working with us. Topics include the SMCR Senior Manager Function landscape, the Consumer Duty implementation challenge for different firm types, DORA scope and implementation timelines, the practical mechanics of FCA authorisation applications, and the typical career profiles of candidates suited to each major SMF role.

The full library is available through our FCA-regulated firms hub, our blog and the knowledge centre.

All Financial Services Recruitment Pages

The full set of FD Capital recruitment pages relevant to FCA-authorised and PRA-regulated firms, organised by role, firm type and topical framework.

By Role

By Firm Type

By Framework / Topic

Speak With FD Capital’s Financial Services Team

Whether you are hiring an SMF holder, considering a fractional compliance or risk appointment, preparing an FCA authorisation application, or want a confidential conversation about your firm’s senior leadership requirements, we would be glad to hear from you.

Call us on 020 3287 9501 or contact us via our enquiry form.

Financial Services