Following the Rules

Today’s episode is part of a Following the Rules series delivering practical guidance on navigating legal, regulatory, technological and cultural change.

In this episode, we turn to a role that has quietly but fundamentally shifted over the past decade: the Chief Compliance Officer. Once seen primarily as a control function, compliance is now expected to sit at the centre of strategy, shaping decisions, influencing culture, and helping firms navigate an increasingly complex and fast-moving regulatory environment.

But while expectations have evolved, practice has not always kept pace. Many firms are still grappling with how to move beyond checklist compliance, how to prioritise effectively in the face of competing demands, and how to embed compliance thinking into everyday decision-making, not just frameworks and documentation.

So what does good look like in practice? Why do compliance programmes still struggle to deliver consistent, decision-useful insight? And how can firms reposition compliance as an enabler of sustainable business, rather than a cost centre?

Joining me to explore these questions are Natalie McManus-Barnett, a former regulator at the Financial Services Authority and senior compliance leader at Citigroup, now founder of thought leadership institute Innovate Compliance, and Jennifer Geary, a former Chief Operating Officer and Chief Risk Officer with senior roles at Barclays and Santander, now a non-executive director and author of five best-selling books in the C-Suite series.

Together, they have brought their experience into a new book, How to Be a Chief Compliance Officer, which sets out a practical framework for modern compliance leadership.

If you are thinking about how to make your compliance function more effective, more credible, and more aligned with business strategy, this episode is for you.

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More on The C Suite Framework: https://csuiteframework.co.uk/

More on Innovate Compliance: https://www.innovatecompliance.co.uk/

Today’s guest argues that after decades of regulatory expansion, compliance is still failing at the basics. From incomplete client records to fragmented legacy systems, he warns that poor data remains one of the industry’s most persistent, and underestimated, risks.

He challenges the industry’s growing reliance on process, questioning whether accountability regimes and surveillance have come at the expense of judgment, culture and open challenge - the very things that prevent problems before they crystallise.

And he explores what happens as technology accelerates ahead of understanding, from AI-driven efficiency to the rise of crypto, warning that regulators and firms alike risk falling behind the businesses they are meant to oversee.

Mark Taylor began his career at the Securities and Futures Authority, a predecessor to the Financial Conduct Authority, and spent two decades at Goldman Sachs in various senior compliance positions including its EMEA Head of Financial Crime Compliance. Since 2023, he has run consultancy Ibex Compliance as its partner.

Today’s episode is a special one, produced in association with Smarsh, an AI technology firm providing global financial institutions with tools to capture, store and monitor their communications across 100+ channels. 

This episode is part of our ‘Following the Rules: How To’ series, focused on practical guidance for firms navigating legal, regulatory and technological change.

In this episode, we turn to trader voice - a mission-critical part of market infrastructure now under growing pressure as trading evolves, with hybrid working, mobile devices, multiple platforms, shorter settlement cycles, and increasing regulatory scrutiny around supervision, auditability and operational resilience.

That raises some important questions.
Are the voice systems many firms still rely on fit for today’s environment?
What does good look like under current regulatory expectations?
And how should firms be thinking about surveillance, data and defensibility as scrutiny continues to increase?

Joining me to discuss this are Eric Wiggins, product marketing director at Smarsh, and Shaun Hurst, principal regulatory advisor at Smarsh.

They share their perspectives on how the risk profile of trader voice has changed, where legacy infrastructure falls short, and what firms should be doing now to build voice frameworks that are genuinely regulator-ready.

Today’s guest is better known to the FBI as ‘Tipper X’, a former hedge fund analyst who became a key cooperating witness in the largest insider trading enforcement sweep in a generation, helping authorities bring cases against more than 80 individuals.

In this episode, he explains why market abuse is rarely a single rogue act. Instead, it’s an incremental process, driven by performance pressure, network drift and the quiet normalisation of ethical grey zones. Drawing on his experience inside a hedge fund, inside a federal investigation and now advising firms and regulators, he argues the industry remains too focused on detecting bad trades rather than preventing bad decisions.

He challenges compliance leaders to look beyond surveillance dashboards, to measure culture as seriously as they measure transactions, and to rethink escalation pathways before misconduct crystallises. And he urges regulators to invest as heavily in prevention and human insight as they do in enforcement technology.

Tom Hardin now works with boards and compliance teams globally, helping them spot the warning signs before misconduct becomes a headline. He is also the author of Wired on Wall Street, which tells the story behind the codename ‘Tipper X’.

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Want to read Tom’s book? Find out more here: https://www.tipperx.com/book

Today’s guest sets out the Financial Conduct Authority’s to-do list for 2026 and beyond.

She details the watchdog’s plans to future-proof UK financial regulation, and outlines what City firms should expect as landmark reforms, including new rules on non-financial misconduct, begin to bed down.

She discusses the FCA’s efforts to build a more open relationship with financial institutions and explains why a more collaborative partnership between regulator and regulated is crucial in the face of unprecedented and rapidly evolving geopolitical, technological and market risks currently shaping financial services.

She also outlines how the watchdog is balancing growth and competitiveness with its core duty to protect consumers and markets and explains why it will continue to push for clearer political accountability to support that task.

Sarah Pritchard’s near three-decade career includes senior roles at banking giant HSBC and the UK’s National Crime Agency. She joined the FCA in 2021 to lead its Supervision, Policy and Competition division and was appointed the regulator’s first Deputy Chief Executive in 2025.