How to Train Staff to be FCA Compliant

FCA compliance training

“Do our staff really need annual compliance training?” “How much detail is needed?” “What’s the best way to make rules meaningful for frontline staff?" These are some of the most common questions we’ve had recently, and in the current climate, these concerns are not trivial. The broader question is how do we create and maintain teams that bridge the regulator’s expectations and real-world practice, often on a budget.

Before we cover the content, we cannot underestimate the importance of the culture that underpins learning and development. If compliance is viewed as a list of rules that need to be met, or worse, something that gets in the way of business, then compliance training is going to be swimming against the tide. Staff should understand why compliance matters: protecting customers, ensuring fair outcomes and maintaining the integrity of the financial system.

3 ways to get the most from your training

Training should be part of the broader culture. Tone from the top matters – it’s often repeated as a key factor in FCA reviews – and when employees see that senior leadership prioritise compliance, training becomes less about obligation and more about shared purpose.

There’s no getting away from it, on the content side, regulations are dry and boring. Abstract regulatory rules feel remote from daily work. The key here is to use case studies and realistic scenarios that bridge the gap between the rules and the day-to-day decisions that employees face.

For instance, instead of simply explaining the requirement to act in a customer’s best interest, present staff with a dilemma where a profitable recommendations might not suit the customer’s needs. Asking staff to consider ‘grey areas’ helps them develop judgement and recognise where they should escalate issues.

Compliance isn’t static. Even with the Consumer Duty pegged to mean fewer regulatory changes in future, the FCA are honing their expectations regularly, and they make this clear through their reviews of practice. Firms must adapt and treat training as an ongoing programme.

Outsourcing training is a difficult decision. You want to be sure that the content is accurate and effective, that it will actually lead to staff who are able to support customer needs in real time, in compliance with the FCA’s rules. Training content needs to be updated regularly, in line with changing rules, requirements, and the outcomes of reviews. That’s where we come in. You can be sure our training courses have been carefully planned and written by industry experts who know the rules inside out, and what good looks like in practice. Our training methods are tried and tested – we know how to ensure that staff come away from their course with the confidence to know they know what to do.

The FCA make it clear that staff must continue learning and development and remain properly trained and competent to perform their roles. We update our courses each year to include new regulatory requirements, best practice and industry standards, with fresh and engaging scenarios. Browse our course catalogue here, or contact us at robert.bell@rbcompliance.co.uk for more information about enrolling groups.