A specialist route to broker compliance hiring
Broker Recruit is the FD Capital Group site for FCA-regulated brokers. It exists for one reason: to put broking firms in front of the specialists who recruit compliance officers, MLROs and Senior Managers every day, without the firm having to work out which of our practices to call.
Part of FD Capital Group
FD Capital Group is a network of five specialist recruitment practices, each focused on a different tier of senior appointment. FD Capital places finance directors and CFOs. Exec Capital handles C-suite and board-level executive search. NED Capital finds non-executive directors and chairs. Accountancy Capital recruits qualified finance professionals below director level. SMF Capital recruits Senior Manager Function holders for FCA and PRA-regulated firms.
Broker Recruit sits alongside them as a focused entry point for broking firms. It started life as a blog about recruitment in stockbroking, commodities and currencies. Over time the questions brokers brought us narrowed to one theme: who will hold compliance and the MLRO role, and will the FCA approve them? So that is now what the site is for.
When a broker gets in touch through Broker Recruit, the search is delivered by SMF Capital, which recruits regulated compliance and Senior Manager roles across every sector we cover. If the hire turns out to be a finance director, a chief executive or a non-executive, we pass it to FD Capital, Exec Capital or NED Capital and make the introduction ourselves. You deal with one team throughout.
Broker Recruit at a glance
- Focused on compliance, MLRO and Senior Manager hires at brokers
- Searches delivered by SMF Capital
- Permanent, interim and fractional appointments
- Fit and proper assessment built into every search
- Every search led personally by Adrian Lawrence FCA
- Offices in London and the West Midlands
Broking firms have their own compliance problem
Most compliance recruitment is written for banks and large asset managers. Brokers face a different set of constraints, and the hire has to fit them.
One person, many hats
At a typical broker, the compliance officer also holds the MLRO role, runs the monitoring programme, signs off financial promotions and leads the firm’s Consumer Duty work. Few candidates have carried all of that alone, and the ones who have are in demand.
Proportionate cost
A small broker rarely needs or can justify a full-time Head of Compliance on a bank salary. A fractional compliance officer and MLRO, approved at the firm and working one or two days a week, is often the right answer, and finding a good one is its own specialism.
Sector knowledge matters
Insurance distribution, mortgage advice, credit broking, stockbroking and wealth management each carry different rules, risks and regulatory focus. The FCA expects the person it approves to understand the firm in front of them, not just compliance in general.
The roles behind an authorised broker
| Role | Function | How brokers usually hire it | Where to read more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compliance officer | SMF16 Compliance Oversight | Permanent at larger brokers, fractional at smaller firms | Compliance officer recruitment |
| MLRO | SMF17 Money Laundering Reporting | Often combined with SMF16; fractional is common | MLRO recruitment |
| Compliance officer and MLRO | SMF16 and SMF17 held together | The default at most small and mid-sized brokers | Combined role recruitment |
| RDR Senior Manager | SMF3 or SMF1, Level 4 qualified | Advice and wealth firms where the director also advises | RDR Senior Managers |
| Certified adviser | Certification Regime | Permanent, assessed annually by the firm | Certified advisers |
| Finance director | SMF2 at larger firms, or SMF3 | Fractional at most brokers | FD Capital SMF2 |
Not sure which function a role should carry? Read getting the designation right before you recruit.
Our standards on every broker search
Regulatory readiness first
An SMF appointment is the one hire where the regulator has a view on your shortlist. We test every candidate against what the FCA’s approval application will ask, covering prior approvals, regulatory history, directorships and financial soundness, before they reach you. The criteria come from the FCA’s Fit and Proper test for Employees and Senior Personnel, and our guide to the fit and proper test explains how it works in practice.
References early, not late
Regulatory references covering the previous six years are a regulatory requirement for SMF appointments, and a slow former employer can delay an approval by weeks. We request them as soon as a candidate is serious, not after the offer is signed.
Discretion
A broker replacing its compliance officer is often doing so quietly, sometimes while the regulator is watching. We approach passive candidates without naming the client until the right point, and the search stays confidential throughout.
Honest advice on structure
Sometimes the right answer is not the hire the firm asked for. If a fractional appointment would work better than a full-time one, or the responsibilities should be split differently, we will say so. Our governance and SMF structure review exists for exactly that conversation.
Our team
Everyone on the FD Capital Group team has worked in senior-level recruitment for at least ten years, and each practice’s network of senior executives, many of whom also hold non-executive roles, is pooled across the group. That means a compliance officer who has worked with one of our FD Capital clients, or an MLRO who sits on a board we have recruited for, is within reach of a Broker Recruit search.
Where we are
London: 167–169 Great Portland Street, London W1W 5PF
West Midlands: Watling Court, Orbital Plaza, Watling Street, Cannock WS11 0EL
We work with brokers across the UK. See our pages for London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol and Edinburgh.
Practical guidance, not regulatory theory
Broker Recruit publishes articles on the hiring decisions brokers actually face: whether to appoint a fractional compliance officer or an outsourced consultancy, how to hire an MLRO for a broking firm, what the Consumer Duty means for the person who signs off your fair value assessments, and how the board should hold its compliance officer to account.
For deeper reference material, the SMF Capital Knowledge Centre covers every Senior Manager Function, the SMCR glossary and the mechanics of approval, and its free guides and templates include a Statement of Responsibilities template and a fit and proper assessment template you can download in Word.
We also cover the wider leadership team brokers build as they grow. FD Capital writes on finance leadership at regulated firms, including its guides to insurance compliance recruitment and wealth management compliance recruitment. Exec Capital covers executive search for FCA-regulated firms.
Adrian also discusses SMF appointments on the SMF Unlocked podcast, available on Apple Podcasts and through the SMF Capital media centre.
About working with us
Is Broker Recruit a separate company?
No. Broker Recruit is part of the FD Capital Group network. Broker searches are delivered by SMF Capital, a trading name of FD Capital Recruitment Ltd, so your contract, terms and point of contact are with SMF Capital.
Why does my enquiry go to SMF Capital?
Because compliance oversight and MLRO roles at brokers are Senior Manager Functions, and SMF Capital is the group’s specialist practice for them. Routing broker enquiries there means you get the team that runs these searches every week, with the same fit and proper process and the same candidate network.
Do you work on retained or contingent terms?
Both, depending on the role. Hard-to-fill and board-level searches are usually run on a retained basis, with market mapping and regular reporting. Many fractional and interim appointments are arranged more simply. We agree the terms with you before the search starts.
Can you help if we are not yet authorised?
Yes. Firms preparing an application, including appointed representatives going directly authorised, need their compliance officer and MLRO in place and named on the forms. See SMF authorisation support.
How do I register as a candidate?
Use the SMF Capital candidate registration page. Registration covers every FD Capital Group practice, so you only need to register once.
Talk to us about your broker hire
Tell us the role, the firm type and your timing. We will come back to you the same working day.