New FCA safeguarding rules take effect on 8 May 2026, and for the first time every authorised payment institution, small e-money institution, and authorised e-money institution will have their safeguarding arrangements tested by a qualified auditor. This panel brings together leaders from Clear Junction, Howen, CMS, and fscom to move past what the rules say and focus on how firms actually implement them, where the friction sits, and how to be ready for an audit you will definitely be marked on.
What you’ll take away
- Where firms really are right now, why “early stages” is the norm, and why this deadline (unlike consumer duty or GDPR) leaves no room to slide
- What has changed and what has been parked: how the interim rules became a supplementary regime that largely codifies the existing approach document, and why the most drastic end-state proposals have been pushed into the long grass
- The four practical pressure points, drawn from a real cross-border EMI scenario: safeguarding bank availability and method choice, reconciliations and monthly reporting, documentation and contracts, and audit readiness
- How insurance works as a safeguarding tool alongside segregation, including hybrid approaches, D+1 liquidity friction, double safeguarding, and freeing up working capital without holding it against equivalent balances
- What the qualified-auditor regime will expect, why a controls map is the starting point, and how to manage stakeholders through what the panel candidly called a likely “car crash” first year across 650-plus firms
Who this is for
For teams responsible for safeguarding, compliance, and operational delivery:
- Payment and e-money institutions (APIs, EMIs, and small EMIs), from those starting safeguarding from scratch to firms already through multiple audit cycles
- Compliance, MLRO, and second-line assurance leads
- Treasury, reconciliation, and operations teams
- Finance leaders and boards preparing for the qualified-auditor regime
The panel also takes live audience questions on insurance policy wording, trust and acknowledgement letters, the segregation window, materiality tolerance, agent obligations, and how the FCA is likely to treat those first audit reports.
Why Clear Junction
Clear Junction provides cross-border payments infrastructure for regulated financial institutions, including remittance operators. We build for production realities: settlement windows, reconciliation, and controlled exception handling across corridors.
FAQ
Will there be a recording?
Yes. Registrants will receive the recording and a short resource pack.
Can I share this with colleagues?
Yes. Forward the page link or share the registration link.
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We’ll use your details to manage webinar access and send materials.
