SMF4 approval timeline planner
Plan when a new chief risk officer can act as SMF4: notice, references, the PRA's decision times and the three-month limit.
RiskTAE02 · Risk Talent · Executive search
Risk recruitment and executive search for CROs and heads of risk
Risk Talent is RiskTAE’s risk recruitment and executive search practice, based in London. We find chief risk officers, heads of risk and risk committee chairs for banks and financial services firms in the UK and worldwide, and supply interim and fractional CROs when a role cannot wait for a permanent hire.
We run executive searches, usually retained and exclusive, for chief risk officers, heads of risk and the leaders who report to them (operational, non-financial, enterprise, credit, market, liquidity and prudential risk), for interim and fractional chief risk officers, and for the non-executives who chair risk committees. We specialise in the senior and hard-to-fill roles.
A partner owns every search from brief to first day, and every candidate is tested on the technical substance of the role before you see a CV. You meet people who can do the job, and you hear from us how the market reads your role.
Roles
Which risk leaders do you search for?
- Chief risk officer SMF4
- Interim chief risk officer Cover
- Fractional chief risk officer Part-time
- Global head of risk Group
- Head of prudential risk Capital
- Head of credit risk Financial
- Head of market and liquidity risk Treasury
- Head of non-financial risk Operational
- Head of operational resilience SS1/21
- Head of third-party risk TPRM
- Head of cyber and ICT risk Technology
- Risk committee chair and NED Board
Senior roles across the first and second lines, on the financial and non-financial side, for banks, building societies, investment firms, asset managers and insurers.
- Risk leadership: chief risk officers (SMF4) at group, deputy and interim level, global and group heads of risk, and combined heads of risk and compliance.
- Financial risk: heads of credit, market, liquidity and treasury risk, prudential risk and capital management, model risk and validation, and investment and insurance risk.
- Non-financial risk: heads of non-financial and operational risk, operational resilience, third-party risk (TPRM), cyber and ICT risk, enterprise risk management, and climate, conduct and AI risk.
- The board: risk committee chairs (SMF10) and non-executive directors with deep risk experience.
Below the most senior level we build the teams these leaders run, from capital and regulatory reporting specialists to model risk and credit risk managers, often as part of a wider change such as the move to Basel 3.1. See risk advisory and consulting.
Process
How does a retained search work?
Brief
A 30-minute call, then a written brief that sets out the role, what success looks like in the first year, the terms and the timetable.
Market map
We identify the people who fit, most of whom are not looking, and approach them in confidence without naming you until they are interested.
Technical screen
We interview each candidate on the substance of the role before you see a CV.
Shortlist
You receive a short list with our written view of each person, and we run interviews and feedback on both sides.
Offer, approval and start
We handle the offer, plan around the regulator’s approval where the role is a senior management function, and stay close to you and your new hire through notice and the first months.
Interim cover
How quickly can you cover a chief risk officer who leaves without notice?
Quickly, because the people who can step in are people we already know: former chief risk officers and heads of risk who take interim assignments between permanent roles. We run the interim and the permanent search side by side, and our interim chief risk officer page sets out how it works.
The PRA’s 12-week rule can allow temporary cover for the Chief Risk function while an approval is sought, under conditions; our article on the 12-week rule sets them out.
Board search
How do you find a risk committee chair or risk NED?
- Chair of the Risk Committee SMF10
- Non-Executive Director Risk expertise
Boards need non-executives who can challenge the chief risk officer on the substance: capital and liquidity, risk appetite, and the stress tests behind the ICAAP and the recovery plan. We search for risk committee chairs and for non-executive directors with that depth, for banks, building societies, insurers and other regulated firms.
In banks, insurers and firms under the enhanced senior managers regime, the chair of the risk committee holds a senior management function, SMF10, so the appointment needs the regulator’s approval before the person takes up the role. We plan the search around that approval from the first brief.
We work with the chair of the board and the nomination committee from the brief to the first board meeting: the gap in the board’s skills, the time the role takes, the committee’s terms of reference and the regulator’s timetable.
Source: FCA Handbook, SUP 10C.5A.8R, the chair of the risk committee function (SMF10).
Working with your team
Do you work with in-house talent acquisition teams?
Yes, often. HR, in-house talent acquisition and RPO teams own the process and the employer brand; we bring a map of the senior risk market and the technical screening a generalist team cannot easily run.
We can take one hard-to-fill role off your list or support a whole risk hiring programme.
For risk professionals
Thinking about your next move in risk?
If your next role is a step up, such as leading a function, joining an executive committee or reporting to the board, talk to us in confidence. We will tell you how the market sees someone with your experience and which firms are building their risk leadership.
We never put your name forward without your agreement.
Or message us on WhatsApp on +44 7537 159269
or email talent@risktae.com.
FAQ
Questions about Risk Talent
Are you a risk recruitment agency or an executive search firm?
Risk Talent is the executive search practice of a risk consulting firm, and it works only in risk. For chief risk officers, heads of risk and risk committee chairs we run searches, usually retained and exclusive, approaching people who are not looking and testing them on the substance before you see a CV. We also supply interim and fractional CROs and heads of risk, fill contract roles below them and build the teams these leaders run.
Do you work on a retained basis?
Usually. Most senior searches run on a retained, exclusive basis, which lets us approach people who are not on the market and give your search our full attention; some roles suit a contingent approach. We agree the terms in writing before any work starts.
What levels of role do you search for?
Senior leaders up to chief risk officer and global head of risk, and non-executive directors with risk expertise. We also build the teams those leaders run.
Do you search outside the UK?
Yes. Most searches are for roles in London and elsewhere in the UK, and we also run searches for international clients and for roles that span jurisdictions.
How do you keep a search confidential?
We approach candidates without naming the client until they have shown interest, and where a client asks, candidates sign a non-disclosure agreement before we name the firm. We never share a candidate’s details without their agreement.
What does a search cost?
Fees depend on the role and the terms of the search, and we agree them in writing before any work starts.
In depth
The roles we search for
01
CRO search
Retained search for chief risk officers and heads of risk: specialist risk headhunters for banks, insurers and financial firms in the UK and worldwide.
02Interim CRO
Interim chief risk officers and heads of risk at short notice for banks and insurers worldwide: people who have held the role, vetted by former CROs.
03Interim and contract risk
Interim risk managers and day-rate risk contractors for credit, operational risk, model and Basel 3.1 work, in the UK and worldwide.
04Fractional chief risk officer
Part-time, continuing chief risk officers and heads of risk for banks, lenders, insurers, investment and payment firms worldwide, vetted by former CROs.
05Head of operational risk search
Executive search for heads of operational and non-financial risk in banking and financial services, with every candidate tested on technical substance.
06Head of credit risk search
Executive search for heads of credit risk in banks, challenger banks and specialist lenders, with every candidate tested on the book they would run.
07Head of model risk search
Executive search for heads of model risk and model validation, with every candidate tested against the PRA's SS1/23 model risk management principles.
08ERM leadership search
Enterprise risk management (ERM) recruitment: executive search for heads of enterprise risk who run the framework and report to the board with authority.
09Market and liquidity risk search
Executive search for heads of market, liquidity and treasury risk in banks and trading firms, with candidates tested on the FRTB and the ILAAP.
10Risk and compliance leadership search
Executive search for combined heads of risk and compliance in smaller UK firms, where one leader must satisfy the PRA, the FCA and the board.
11Risk NED search
Search for risk committee chairs and non-executive directors with real risk expertise, for banks, building societies, insurers and investment firms.
12For talent acquisition teams
How RiskTAE works alongside in-house talent acquisition teams and RPOs on senior risk hires: one partner, a technical screen and no duplicated effort.
13Candidates and registration
Talk in confidence to a partner who has recruited risk leaders since 2003. Register with RiskTAE and get straight advice on your next senior move in risk.
14Head of prudential risk search
Executive search for heads of prudential risk and capital management who can own the ICAAP, ILAAP and Basel 3.1 numbers and defend them to the PRA.
15Head of operational resilience search
Executive search for heads of operational resilience who can set impact tolerances, map important business services and meet PRA SS1/21 in practice.
16Head of third-party risk search
Executive search for heads of third-party risk who can run outsourcing, supplier and critical third-party oversight to the standard of PRA SS2/21.
17Head of cyber and ICT risk search
Executive search for second-line heads of cyber and ICT risk in financial services: leaders who can challenge the CISO and report to the board.
18Head of climate risk search
Executive search for heads of climate risk in banks and insurers: leaders who can build climate risk into capital, stress testing and risk appetite.
19Head of investment risk search
Executive search for heads of investment risk at asset managers and wealth firms: leaders who can challenge fund managers on liquidity and market risk.
Insights
Further reading
Hiring a CRO
A board's guide to hiring a chief risk officer in the UK: the brief, the search, the assessment, SMF4 approval and the first 100 days in post.
By Benn Pople
Your CRO has resigned: how the 12-week rule works after PS12/26
When a chief risk officer resigns, a UK bank can put someone into the Chief Risk function (SMF4) without regulatory approval for less than 12 weeks in any consecutive 12-month period, provided the absence was temporary...
By Benn Pople · 7 min readNext step
Tell us about the role
In 30 minutes we will agree the brief, say how the market is likely to read it and tell you whether a retained search is the right route.
Brief us on a role
Tell us about the role and a partner will come back to you. Treated in confidence.
Prefer email? talent@risktae.com or +44 20 3996 9599. We use these details only to reply to you: privacy notice.