SMF Capital

About SMF Unlocked

SMF Unlocked is the podcast for anyone recruiting, holding, or thinking about taking on an FCA Senior Manager Function. Every episode unpacks a specific part of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime — what a designation like Chair, Chief Risk Officer, Compliance Oversight or MLRO actually requires, how the fit and proper test works in practice, and where boards and firms most often get SMF appointments wrong before it's too late to fix cheaply.

This isn't a regulatory affairs show for compliance academics. It's a practical, direct look at SMF appointments from someone who runs these searches for a living — real patterns from real searches, the questions that actually separate a strong candidate from a risky one, and the mistakes that turn a straightforward appointment into a six-month Form A headache.

About the host

Adrian Lawrence FCA is a Fellow of the ICAEW and founder of SMF Capital, a UK recruitment practice specialising in FCA Senior Manager Function appointments — executive and non-executive. He founded FD Capital in 2018 and has since built out Exec Capital, NED Capital and Accountancy Capital alongside SMF Capital, working with boards, investors and regulated firms across the UK on senior and board-level appointments. He leads every SMF search personally, which is where most of what ends up in this podcast actually comes from.

Who this is for

Board members and non-executive directors navigating a Chair or committee chair appointment. Compliance and financial crime professionals building a case for their next SMF16 or SMF17 role. HR and governance teams trying to work out which designation actually applies to a role they're hiring for. And anyone who's been through an SMF appointment that went sideways and wants to understand why.

New episodes regularly. Subscribe wherever you listen, and find detailed written guides to every SMF designation at smfcapital.co.uk.