SUP 1.5 Lead supervision

This section applies to a firm which is a member of a group with more than one supervisory contact at the FSA.

The FSA has developed arrangements for lead supervision in order to achieve more efficient and more effective supervision of firms and their groups. Lead supervision is designed to deliver a coordinated approach to the supervision of groups with more than one supervisory contact at the FSA, assisting the FSA to monitor them effectively and respond to the risks that arise.

The FSA appoints a lead supervisor for a group with more than one supervisory contact at the FSA. The choice of lead supervisor depends principally on the predominant business of the group.

The lead supervisor has three key responsibilities:

1. (1)

   to produce an overall assessment of the group: this comprises an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the business of the group and each of the firms within a group and a risk assessment of the group as a whole;

2. (2)

   to coordinate the supervision programme: based on the overall assessment, the coordinated supervision programme is a single, risk-based supervision plan for the whole group for a specified period; and

3. (3)

   to act as the central point of contact for the group with the FSA, where the group decides to use the lead supervisor in this way; this removes the need for duplicate communication between the FSA and firms in groups on group-wide issues.