FCA-regulated firms & market entrants
Compliance support for FCA-regulated firms
Bishopsgate Vector Advisory Limited provides compliance advisory, monitoring, governance, financial crime, regulatory implementation and SMF16/SMF17 support for investment managers, fintechs, regulated startups and market entrants.
- SMF16 & compliance capacity
- Compliance oversight capability, where appropriate
- Compliance monitoring
- Risk-based plans, testing and reporting
- Governance & SM&CR
- Oversight, responsibility mapping, documentation
- Regulatory advisory
- Change, authorisations and FCA engagement
- 25 years’ experienceRegulatory, compliance & governance
- FCA-regulated firm experienceGained inside regulated businesses
- Investment management & FinTechFunds, MiFID, wealth & new entrants
- SMF16 / SMF17 capabilityCompliance Oversight & MLRO
- Structured consultancy modelStructured, experienced delivery
Experienced compliance support from inside regulated environments — for firms that need practical judgement, governance evidence and implementation support without unnecessary consultancy layers.
Bishopsgate Vector supports FCA-regulated firms and regulated-market entrants, including investment managers, alternative investment firms, fintech businesses and founder-led firms, with the design, review and implementation of compliance frameworks, policies, monitoring, governance arrangements and regulatory change.
A practical lifecycle model
Launch, grow and protect your compliance framework
Support matched to where your firm is — from authorisation and build-out, through scaling regulated activity, to demonstrating control under scrutiny.
Support for market entrants, fintechs and firms preparing for FCA authorisation, including regulatory perimeter analysis, policy frameworks and governance arrangements.
Compliance monitoring, SM&CR, financial crime, regulatory implementation and governance evidence for firms scaling regulated activity.
Regulatory healthchecks, risk-rated findings, remediation tracking and preparation for regulatory scrutiny.
How we can help
I’m looking to…
A direct route to the right support, wherever your firm is in its regulatory journey.
Recommended starting point
Regulatory Healthcheck & Opportunity Review
A structured review of governance, policies, monitoring arrangements and regulatory evidence, with risk-rated findings, remediation priorities and a discussion of relevant regulatory developments. The natural first engagement for firms that are unsure where to begin.
Client situations we support
Engaged at the moments that matter
Firms typically approach Bishopsgate Vector at a specific trigger point — a regulatory milestone, a capacity gap, or a step-change in growth.
A CEO or founder is holding SMF16/SMF17
Executives carrying compliance responsibility who need experienced capacity and challenge around them.
A growing FinTech or startup
A regulated-market entrant or scaling firm that needs to build a credible compliance framework.
Preparing for FCA authorisation
Firms seeking authorisation, a variation of permission or a change in control.
Outgrown informal arrangements
A firm whose business has grown faster than its compliance framework and governance evidence.
Between compliance hires
Interim cover and continuity while a permanent appointment is made.
Board needs clearer evidence
Firms needing stronger compliance MI, monitoring or governance evidence for the board and the regulator.
When the CEO is also carrying compliance
Experienced support around the executives who hold the responsibility
In smaller regulated firms, the CEO, founder or COO may also hold SMF16, SMF17 or wider compliance responsibilities. For small and mid-sized regulated firms, that can be an efficient and proportionate operating model, provided the governance, challenge, documentation, monitoring and regulatory evidence remain sufficiently structured as the business develops.
Bishopsgate Vector supports senior managers who need experienced compliance capacity around them — through retained advisory support, targeted reviews, compliance monitoring, governance documentation, SM&CR support or, where appropriate, SMF16 support.
This is not about automatically replacing management responsibility. The firm and its senior managers remain responsible for their own regulatory obligations.
- Governance & challengeIndependent input and challenge where the executive holds the role.
- Documentation & evidenceRecords that demonstrate oversight and reasonable steps.
- MonitoringRisk-based assurance the executive can rely on.
- CapacityExperienced bandwidth without an immediate permanent hire.
- TransitionA path towards a permanent appointment when the time is right.
Lead service
SMF16 & compliance capacity
Bishopsgate Vector supports firms that need experienced compliance oversight — whether because of growth, transition, absence, restructuring, FCA engagement or a gap between permanent hires. This includes acting in SMF16 (Compliance Oversight) where appropriate, agreed and subject to applicable regulatory requirements.
Any SMF16 arrangement is properly scoped and remains subject to client agreement, regulatory requirements and FCA approval where required. Client firms retain responsibility for their own regulatory obligations.
What we do
Core services
A structured set of compliance disciplines for regulated firms — delivered with experienced involvement, clear scope and document-ready outputs.
Regulatory Healthcheck
A focused review of governance, policies, compliance arrangements and regulatory evidence, with risk-rated findings and practical next steps.
Learn more 02SMF16, SMF17 & compliance capacity
Senior, interim and fractional compliance capability, including SMF16 (Compliance Oversight) and SMF17 (MLRO) support where appropriate, agreed and subject to applicable regulatory requirements.
Learn more 03Ongoing compliance support
Retained access to experienced compliance judgement, with a compliance calendar, obligations tracking, monitoring, governance input, escalation and board reporting.
Learn more 04Compliance monitoring & assurance
Risk-based monitoring plans, thematic and file reviews, FCA supervisory readiness reviews, surveillance and best execution review, findings reports and remediation tracking.
Learn more 05Governance, SM&CR & systems and controls
Responsibilities and statements of responsibilities, committee terms of reference, board MI, evidence of challenge and oversight, and SYSC-focused control frameworks.
Learn more 06FCA authorisation & regulatory change
Authorisation, variation of permission and change in control support, regulatory notifications, supervisory readiness, and implementation of new rules — plus prudential / IFPR / ICARA and AIFMD support.
Learn more 07Financial crime & MLRO support
AML/CTF frameworks, sanctions controls, business-wide and customer risk assessments, financial crime monitoring, and MLRO support where appropriate and agreed.
Learn more 08Financial promotions & marketing compliance
Website, pitch-deck and promotion review against fair, clear and not misleading expectations, risk-warning review, and approval process, logs and version control.
Learn more 09Startup, FinTech & new entrant support
Compliance framework design, authorisation readiness, governance build-out, policies and procedures, monitoring set-up and a regulatory implementation roadmap.
Learn moreWho we support
Built for FCA-regulated firms and market entrants
Depth in investment management, with practical support for fintechs, founder-led firms and firms building or scaling a compliance function.
Compliance capacity planning
Matching experienced compliance capacity to the firm’s actual need
For some regulated firms, the immediate choice is not between having compliance support and having none. The practical question is whether the firm needs a full-time senior compliance hire now, or whether retained compliance advisory and fractional capacity can provide a proportionate interim or ongoing model. This comparison is intended to support governance and resourcing decisions, not to suggest that retained support is suitable for every firm or that a Senior Management Function can be outsourced by price alone.
| Model | Assumptions | Est. annual cost | Est. monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retained compliance support | £3,200 + VAT per month; VAT ignored where fully recoverable | £38,400 | £3,200 |
| Full-time senior compliance hire | £150,000 salary, employer NIC, 10% pension, private medical insurance and Class 1A NIC | c. £188,500 | c. £15,700 |
On these assumptions, a full-time senior compliance hire may cost approximately 4.9 times the economic cost of retained compliance advisory support, where VAT is fully recoverable. The comparison is illustrative only and is not a guaranteed saving calculation. The employment estimate reflects salary of £150,000, employer NIC of approximately £21,750 (around 15% above the c. £5,000 annual secondary threshold), a 10% pension contribution, £1,500 private medical insurance and Class 1A NIC of approximately £225.
Cost is only one factor. The appropriate model depends on the firm’s permissions, governance structure, business complexity, regulatory risk, expected workload, internal capability and whether an approved Senior Management Function is required. Regulatory responsibility cannot be outsourced automatically. Any SMF16 or SMF17 arrangement must be properly scoped, subject to agreement, applicable regulatory requirements and FCA approval where required, and the client firm remains responsible for its regulatory obligations.
Engagement models
Structured ways to work with the firm
Support is scoped and proportionate, and can be structured to suit how a firm needs to buy experienced compliance capability.
Regulatory Healthcheck & Opportunity Review
A focused diagnostic review with risk-rated findings, practical remediation priorities and a discussion of relevant regulatory developments.
Retained compliance support
Ongoing access to experienced compliance judgement, monitoring, governance input and regulatory implementation support.
Project-based assignments
Defined-scope work: monitoring reviews, policy frameworks, SM&CR reviews, FCA applications, regulatory change or remediation.
Fractional compliance capacity
Experienced compliance capacity for firms that do not need — or are not ready for — a permanent senior hire.
SMF16 / SMF17 support
Compliance Oversight or MLRO capability, where appropriate, agreed and subject to applicable regulatory requirements and FCA approval.
Targeted reviews
Short, focused reviews of a specific area — monitoring, financial promotions, governance evidence, policies or financial crime controls.
Fees are agreed by scope, seniority, urgency and engagement model. Fixed-fee project work may be available where the scope is sufficiently defined. The firm combines experienced delivery with a flexible, scalable operating model.
How we work
Experienced, practical and evidence-driven
Direct access to experienced advisers
Clients work directly with the experienced adviser responsible for the engagement. Direct delivery means no unnecessary consultancy layers and no dilution of experience.
Practical diagnosis before documentation
The firm first identifies the regulatory issue, business context, governance owner and evidence gap — before producing policies, reports or remediation plans.
Clear, usable outputs
Engagements are designed around outputs senior management can use: monitoring reports, board papers, policies, action logs, regulatory correspondence drafts, governance packs and implementation plans.
Flexible compliance capacity
Support can be provided through retained relationships, project work, targeted reviews or fractional compliance capacity.
Evidence-led delivery
Work is structured so senior management can evidence oversight, decision-making, challenge, remediation and regulatory awareness.
Clear scope & action tracking
Each engagement has defined scope and prioritisation, with clear ownership of actions and tracking through to completion.
Scalable resource model
A flexible operating model that scales the level of resource to the complexity, urgency and scope of the engagement, drawing on appropriate specialist input where required.
Clearer governance. Better evidence. Practical compliance execution.
Latest thinking
Regulatory commentary and practical updates
Bishopsgate Vector publishes concise commentary on FCA compliance, SM&CR, governance, monitoring and regulatory change through LinkedIn.
Scope & regulatory boundaries
Bishopsgate Vector is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. It does not provide investment advice, manage investments, arrange investments or hold client money.
Where support relates to a Senior Management Function, including SMF16 (Compliance Oversight), any arrangement is subject to appropriate client agreement, defined role scope, applicable regulatory requirements and FCA approval where required. Client firms remain responsible for their own regulatory obligations.
Next step
Arrange an introductory discussion
A short, confidential conversation to understand your firm, your regulatory context and where experienced compliance support would add value.