Former regulator and JP Morgan regulatory affairs head Sally Dewar outlines how to manage compliance risk, get individual accountability right and build a simpler regulatory regime

2026-10-05

Today’s guest warns that financial services’ boards that place too much emphasis on compliance risk making their firms less well governed, by crowding out strategic debate and encouraging executives to focus on proving they have ticked the right boxes rather than exercising good judgment.

She also makes the case for preserving the UK’s Senior Managers and Certification Regime, arguing that dismantling it now could ultimately damage the market, even as she calls for parts of the regime to be streamlined.

And, as AI and better data transform both financial firms and their regulators, she considers whether technology could eventually support a simpler rulebook, with greater reliance on judgment and individual accountability.

Sally Dewar’s has spent her 35-year career working across regulation, financial services and corporate governance. A former senior regulator at the Financial Services Authority, she went on to lead international regulatory affairs at JPMorgan Chase before spending six years as CEO of A&O Consulting, the law firm’s regulatory advisory business. Since 2024, she has advised firms, boards and senior executives across the industry, on governance, culture, conduct and regulatory risk as a director at Adelstow Advisory.

No. of episodes

100

Latest episode

2026-10-19

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An insider’s guide to the laws dictating life within UK and EU financial services, the people influencing their development and policing finance workers’ compliance