In the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued various statements emphasising the importance of business continuity arrangements for UK authorised firms. Responding appropriately to the unprecedented disruption caused by the coronavirus crisis poses significant challenges for senior managers. In this note, we focus on the steps UK authorised firms can take to ensure their responses to the coronavirus crisis are consistent with the FCA’s expectations, thus mitigating the risk of enforcement action resulting from coronavirus-related regulatory compliance shortcomings. Also, we summarise a few of the key announcements and measures introduced by the FCA in recent weeks that are relevant to authorised firms.
