Huntswood delivers trusted governance reviews and Skilled Person engagements that assess governance frameworks, board effectiveness, decision-making and accountability structures, providing regulators and firms with confidence that governance improvements are sustainable and effective.
The Challenge:
Following FCA intervention, a leading UK and multinational insurer was required to appoint a Skilled Person under Section 166 to assess the effectiveness of governance arrangements across its group and subsidiary entities. The review needed to evaluate whether recent governance enhancements had been fully embedded and were operating effectively, while providing regulators with robust and independent assurance.
Our Solution:
Selected from five potential providers, Huntswood deployed a specialist team of governance, conduct risk and insurance experts to undertake this high-profile regulatory review.
Our approach included:
- Delivering a comprehensive governance assessment spanning 27 review workstreams across group and subsidiary operations.
- Conducting an extensive review of governance frameworks, policies, committee structures, reporting mechanisms and management information.
- Reviewing more than 1,000 documents to assess governance effectiveness and evidence of framework implementation.
- Developing a bespoke scenario-based governance assessment tool to test board decision-making, challenge, oversight and information flows.
- Interviewing the insurer’s entire board and senior leadership team, completing 30 senior stakeholder interviews within eight weeks.
- Maintaining regular engagement with the FCA throughout the programme, supporting transparency and a collaborative, “no surprises” relationship between the regulator and the insurer.
Outcomes & Impact Delivered:
- Landmark Governance Review: Successfully delivered the FCA’s first and only governance review commissioned under a Section 166 Skilled Person engagement, setting a benchmark for governance assurance within the insurance sector.
- Comprehensive Governance Assurance: Completed an in-depth assessment across 27 workstreams, providing a detailed view of governance effectiveness and the embedding of recent framework changes.
- Robust Board Effectiveness Assessment: Reviewed over 1,000 governance documents and utilised scenario-based testing to evaluate board decision-making, oversight capabilities, challenge processes and information flow across the organisation.
- Senior Leadership Engagement: Conducted 30 board and executive interviews in just eight weeks, creating a comprehensive understanding of governance practices across the business.
- Strong Regulatory Confidence: Maintained continuous engagement with the FCA, fostering a transparent and constructive relationship that provided confidence in both the review process and resulting outcomes.
- All Improvements Successfully Signed Off: As the appointed Skilled Person, Huntswood provided independent assurance that all required governance improvements had been effectively implemented, delivering confidence to both the insurer and the FCA.
Business Impact:
By combining deep insurance expertise with specialist governance and conduct risk capabilities, Huntswood delivered a rigorous and independent assessment of the insurer’s governance framework. The engagement provided the FCA with the assurance it required while helping the insurer strengthen governance effectiveness, embed sustainable improvements and reinforce regulatory confidence.