An FCA probe into its crackdown on senior managers’ accountability has found some firms appear to be sharing responsibility among more junior staff and “obscuring who is genuinely responsible”.

The regulator revealed its findings this morning as it reported the progress with the Senior Managers’ and Certification Regime.

This will be extended to all regulated financial services firms from 2018.

The FCA said in a statement: “Ahead of the introduction of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime in March this year, most firms sent detailed grandfathering notifications, statements of responsibilities and firm responsibilities maps.

“In some cases, the FCA has seen evidence of overlapping or unclear allocation of responsibilities.

“In other cases firms appear to be sharing responsibility amongst more junior staff, obscuring who is genuinely responsible.

“This goes against the intent of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime and must be addressed.”

The regulator also revealed it plans to strengthen the regime. The proposed rules will reinforce the importance of individual accountability at the most senior level of organisations, it said.

Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the FCA, said: “Six months on and, in a great many cases, firms have made a substantial effort to get this right and embrace the importance of the key principles underlying the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, namely responsibility and accountability.

“Knowing who is responsible for what is critical for firms and regulators and we have seen genuine engagement on this from the Board down.

“Generally, we have observed that firms are taking their responsibilities seriously and have broadly got the regime right. But we recognise culture change takes time and there is still more to do. So we have to keep a watchful eye on the progress firms are making.”