training Archives - Create Solutions

Policy to Proof – Under the Spotlight: Conflicts of Interest

Claire Smith — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Conflicts of interests is high on the FCA’s agenda

Question? If the regulator contacted you today, could you prove you are identifying and managing COI well? How would you prove it?

Chris Knight’s new FCA blog (21 July 2026), states disclosure alone is not enough. From our experience this part of regulation lacks understanding of what it actually means and how it applies. Many firms think they don’t have Conflicts, but when questioned they do. It sometimes takes a step back to see them.

That’s why we are tackling this in our new workshop series, Policy to Proof.

In 60 minutes, we’ll cover:

Understanding what COI are or could be in your firm?
What the FCA’s new expectations actually mean for your firm
How to move from “we have a policy” to “here’s our evidence”
Who should own conflicts of interest risk at senior management level
The red flags regulators are actively looking for
More on Creates Support in this area
Useful takeaways for all firms

Designed for: Senior Managers , Directors, and Risk & Compliance teams

Date: 15th October 2026

Time: 10:00am – 11.00am

Cost: Free of Charge for Create Clients or £125 + VAT per person

Organiser: Create Solutions Ltd

To book: click to book or email deborah@createsolutions.co.uk

Book your place

Zoom details will be sent in advance.

The post Policy to Proof – Under the Spotlight: Conflicts of Interest appeared first on Create Solutions.

When the Heat Rises, So Does Risk: A Consumer Duty Temperature Check

Claire Smith — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 15:02:44 +0000

As the UK heats up, many of us are enjoying the sunshine, taking a moment to splash, paddle, and rehydrate. But while the weather warms, it’s worth remembering that risk levels can rise just as quickly.

In financial services, pressure often builds quietly. Increased workloads, stretched teams, and small process shortcuts can quickly shift your risk rating from green to amber… and, if left unchecked, to red. That’s when firms risk breaching the rules and, more importantly, failing to deliver good outcomes for customers.

So how do you keep your cool?

Think of your business like a thermostat. It needs regular adjustment and monitoring to ensure it doesn’t overheat. Under Consumer Duty, this means taking a step back and asking:

Do we need a temperature check on how we’re delivering customer outcomes?
Are our communications still clear, fair, and not misleading?
Are we continuing to support vulnerable customers effectively?
Are our teams coping, or are they starting to wilt under pressure?

It’s easy to focus on customer outcomes alone, but we shouldn’t forget our staff. The heat can affect the service customers receive.

At Create Solutions, we help firms keep their cool.

We support you to rehydrate and refresh your compliance frameworks, strengthen risk mitigation, and ensure your controls remain effective—even when the pressure rises.

Whether it’s a targeted review, governance support, or a full Consumer Duty “temperature check,” we help you identify early warning signs before risks escalate.

Because good compliance isn’t about reacting when things boil over—it’s about maintaining the right conditions from the start.

So enjoy the weather—but don’t forget to check your internal climate.

If you’d like a quick temperature check on your Consumer Duty approach, we’re here to help.

Contact Karen@createsolutions.co.uk Tel 0161 870 6637

The post When the Heat Rises, So Does Risk: A Consumer Duty Temperature Check appeared first on Create Solutions.

“I am one hundred percent faithful” – what can the traitors teach us about the importance of good governance? Or may be just “governance?”

Claire Smith — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 13:39:34 +0000

Love it or hate it, the hit TV show “The Traitors” gets the nation thinking and talking.

Not just about Claudia’s fringe and wardrobe, but why (as she often dryly observes), are the faithful so rubbish at identifying and eliminating traitors?

I appreciate that the link with FCA governance here is probably far from obvious. Please stick with me for a moment or two and allow me to explain my thoughts.

Let us think, for a moment, about what the faithful are asked to do, and the circumstances they are asked to do it in. On the face of it we might think, “wow, they are on an amazing all expenses paid trip to a Scottish castle, what’s the problem”?

From a different perspective, they are thrown into a competitive situation in an unfamiliar environment, with a bunch of people they do not know (except for some of the celebrities) and asked to solve a puzzle with very little information to go on.

So, why is this task so difficult? In my view, this is because they are largely working in a vacuum. In most aspects of our life there are rules and structures we work within. We must be at work at certain times and fulfil the terms of our employment contract, drive in accordance with various laws, and pay our mortgages on time.

All this provides structure, or governance, to various parts of our lives. And how do we manage all this? We get information (or data) from many sources to help us understand how to best navigate our lives.

In The Traitors, most of this is taken away, and the Faithful must develop their own governance in the form of alliances that can be rapidly created and discarded whilst trying to find information on who the traitors are. It is this combination of a lack of governance structures and data that leads to them struggling to identify and eliminate those murderous traitors.

This is why FCA places such importance on governance and the data to support it. So, what does this mean in our day-to-day running of our businesses? Essentially, they expect you to have in place systems e.g., regular documented senior management meetings and controls e.g., a monitoring programme to provide you with data that are “appropriate to the nature, scale and complexity of your business.”

If all that leaves you concerned about identifying the traitors in your business life, please do get in touch.

We assure you; we are 100% faithful in our support.

Contact us

The post “I am one hundred percent faithful” – what can the traitors teach us about the importance of good governance? Or may be just “governance?” appeared first on Create Solutions.