The Skills That Make a Regulated-Sector FC or Finance Manager

A financial controller or finance manager in a regulated firm needs a distinctive combination of skills — the core finance capabilities that any FC needs, plus the additional capabilities that the regulated environment demands. The regulated sector places demands on its finance leaders that an unregulated business does not, and the FCs and finance managers who thrive in it are those who combine strong finance fundamentals with the regulatory understanding, the heightened rigour, and the particular judgement that the regulated environment requires. For a finance professional building or considering a career in the regulated sector, understanding the skills that make a successful regulated-sector FC or finance manager is genuinely useful, both as a guide to developing them and as a picture of what the sector values. This guide sets out those skills.

This guide is written for finance professionals in or considering the regulated sector who want to understand the skills that make a successful regulated-sector FC or finance manager. It covers the core finance skills that remain fundamental, the regulatory understanding that is distinctive to the sector, the heightened rigour and control the environment demands, the particular judgement and communication skills required, and how these combine to make a successful regulated-sector finance leader. It is a practical picture of the capabilities the sector values, aimed at finance professionals developing their careers in it. The aim is an understanding of the skills that make a regulated-sector FC or finance manager successful, which helps a finance professional develop them and understand what the sector looks for.

The Core Finance Skills That Remain Fundamental

The foundation of a successful regulated-sector FC or finance manager is the core finance skills that any FC needs, which remain just as fundamental in the regulated sector as anywhere. The strong technical accounting capability, the reliable financial reporting, the sound financial controls, the analytical ability, the financial management, and the professional judgement that define a good FC are all essential in a regulated firm, because a regulated firm needs sound finance just as any business does. A regulated-sector FC must be, first and foremost, a good FC, with the core finance capabilities that the role requires anywhere. These fundamentals are the foundation on which the regulated-sector capabilities build, and no amount of regulatory knowledge compensates for weak finance fundamentals.

This means that developing into a successful regulated-sector FC starts with developing strong core finance skills, because these are the foundation. A finance professional who is strong in the fundamentals has the basis for success in the regulated sector, to which the regulatory capabilities are added; one who is weak in the fundamentals lacks the foundation that the regulated-sector role, like any FC role, requires. Understanding that the core finance skills remain fundamental in the regulated sector is important, because it establishes that the regulated-sector FC is built on the same foundation as any FC, with the regulatory capabilities added on top. The fundamentals come first, and they are as essential in the regulated sector as anywhere, which is why a finance professional building a regulated-sector career must develop them alongside the regulatory dimension.

The Regulatory Understanding That Is Distinctive

What distinguishes the regulated-sector FC from an FC in an unregulated business is the regulatory understanding — the knowledge of the regulatory environment, the regulatory responsibilities of finance, and the specific requirements that the regulated firm and its finance function must meet. A successful regulated-sector FC understands the regulatory environment their firm operates in, the regulatory responsibilities that fall to finance — the regulatory reporting, the capital requirements, the client money or safeguarding where relevant — and the specific requirements that apply, well enough to fulfil the finance function’s regulatory role. This regulatory understanding is distinctive to the sector and is what a regulated-sector FC needs beyond the core finance skills.

The regulatory understanding a regulated-sector FC needs is genuine and substantial, though it need not be the specialist depth of a compliance professional — the FC needs to understand the regulatory environment and the finance function’s regulatory responsibilities well enough to lead the finance function’s regulatory work, drawing on the compliance function and specialist support for the specialist depth. This understanding is built over time through working in the regulated sector, and it deepens with experience, becoming increasingly valuable. A regulated-sector FC who has genuine regulatory understanding — of the environment, the responsibilities, the requirements — can lead the finance function effectively in the regulated firm; one who lacks it cannot fulfil the regulatory dimension of the role. Understanding that the regulatory understanding is the distinctive capability of the regulated-sector FC — the knowledge of the regulatory environment and the finance function’s regulatory responsibilities — identifies what a finance professional must develop to succeed in the sector beyond the core finance skills. The regulatory understanding is what makes an FC a regulated-sector FC, and developing it is central to a regulated-sector finance career.

The Heightened Rigour and Control

The regulated environment demands a heightened rigour and control that a successful regulated-sector FC embodies, going beyond the standard that an unregulated business requires. Because errors in a regulated firm can have regulatory consequences — inaccurate regulatory reporting, capital breaches, client money or safeguarding discrepancies — the standard of accuracy and control in the regulated firm’s finance function is heightened, and the FC must ensure the finance function operates to this heightened standard. A successful regulated-sector FC brings a rigour and a discipline to the finance function that reflects the higher stakes of the regulated environment, ensuring the accuracy, the controls, and the reliability that the regulatory context demands.

This heightened rigour is a genuine skill and disposition, not just a matter of trying harder — it involves building and maintaining the controls, the discipline, and the culture of accuracy that the regulated environment requires, and holding the finance function to the higher standard consistently. An FC who brings this heightened rigour ensures the finance function meets the regulated firm’s demanding standards; one who brings only the standard appropriate to an unregulated business may fall short of what the regulated environment requires. Understanding that heightened rigour and control is a distinctive requirement of the regulated-sector FC helps a finance professional appreciate the standard the sector demands and develop the disposition to meet it. The regulated environment demands more rigour and control than an unregulated business, and a successful regulated-sector FC embodies this heightened standard, which is part of what the sector values and what distinguishes success in it. Bringing the heightened rigour the environment requires is part of being a successful regulated-sector finance leader.

The Particular Judgement and Communication Skills

A successful regulated-sector FC also needs particular judgement and communication skills that the regulated environment calls for. The judgement includes the ability to navigate the regulatory dimension of decisions — understanding the regulatory implications of the firm’s activities and decisions, and bringing the regulatory perspective to bear alongside the commercial — which requires the combination of finance and regulatory understanding that the regulated-sector FC develops. It also includes the judgement to know when a matter requires specialist compliance input, and to work effectively with the compliance and risk functions, because the FC operates within a firm where these functions are central and the FC must collaborate with them.

The communication skills include the ability to communicate the regulatory dimension of finance clearly — presenting the regulatory capital position, the regulatory reporting, and the regulatory matters to management, the board, and others in a way they understand — which requires making the regulatory finance accessible to those who are not specialists. The regulated-sector FC often sits at the intersection of finance, regulation, and the business, and the ability to communicate across these — explaining the regulatory finance to the business, understanding the business’s needs, working with compliance and risk — is a valuable skill. A successful regulated-sector FC therefore brings particular judgement and communication skills, suited to the regulated environment, alongside the core finance skills and the regulatory understanding. Understanding these particular judgement and communication requirements helps a finance professional appreciate the fuller range of capabilities the regulated-sector role demands. The judgement to navigate the regulatory dimension and the communication to make regulatory finance accessible are part of what makes a successful regulated-sector FC, and developing them is part of building a regulated-sector finance career.

How These Combine to Make a Successful Regulated-Sector Finance Leader

The skills that make a successful regulated-sector FC or finance manager combine into a distinctive whole — the core finance skills, the regulatory understanding, the heightened rigour, and the particular judgement and communication — and it is the combination that defines success in the sector. A successful regulated-sector FC is a strong finance professional (the core skills) who understands the regulatory environment and the finance function’s regulatory responsibilities (the regulatory understanding), operates to the heightened standard the environment demands (the rigour and control), and brings the judgement and communication the regulated context requires. It is this combination, built on the foundation of strong finance skills, that makes a finance leader effective in the regulated sector.

For a finance professional building a regulated-sector career, this means developing all of these — maintaining and strengthening the core finance skills, developing the regulatory understanding, cultivating the heightened rigour, and building the particular judgement and communication — over time, through working in the sector and deliberately developing the capabilities. The combination develops with experience, and a finance professional who builds it becomes an increasingly capable and valuable regulated-sector finance leader. Understanding how these skills combine to make a successful regulated-sector FC helps a finance professional see the full picture of what the sector requires and develop toward it. The successful regulated-sector FC or finance manager is defined by the combination of strong finance fundamentals and the regulatory capabilities the sector demands, and building that combination is the path to a successful regulated-sector finance career. The finance professionals who develop this combination are genuinely valued in the regulated sector, because it needs finance leaders who bring both the finance fundamentals and the regulatory capabilities, and they are what we look for in placing FCs and finance managers into regulated firms. This connects to the guide on moving from non-regulated to regulated finance.

Developing These Skills Over Time

For a finance professional building a regulated-sector career, it is encouraging to understand that the skills that make a successful regulated-sector FC develop over time, through experience and deliberate effort, rather than being required in full from the outset. The core finance skills are developed as any finance professional develops them, through experience and professional development. The regulatory understanding is built through working in the regulated sector, deepening with experience as the professional encounters and learns the regulatory environment and the finance function’s regulatory responsibilities. The heightened rigour and the particular judgement and communication develop through practising them in the regulated environment.

This means a finance professional does not need to possess all these capabilities fully before entering or progressing in the regulated sector; they develop them over time, building the combination that makes a successful regulated-sector FC through experience and deliberate development. A finance professional early in their regulated-sector career develops the regulatory understanding and the other regulated-sector capabilities as they work, building toward the full combination over time. This developmental view is encouraging, because it shows that becoming a successful regulated-sector FC is an achievable progression rather than requiring a complete skill set from the start. A finance professional who understands that these skills develop over time can approach their regulated-sector career as a progression of building the capabilities, applying their core finance skills while developing the regulatory dimension and the other regulated-sector capabilities. Understanding that the skills develop over time helps a finance professional see the path to becoming a successful regulated-sector FC as an achievable journey of development, which is how these careers are actually built. The combination develops with experience and effort, and a finance professional building it progresses toward the successful regulated-sector finance leader the sector values.