CITY watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority has proposed a new directory to help consumers and companies check the status and history of people who are working in the financial services sector.

The publication will include all those who hold senior manager positions that require regulatory approval, as well as those whose roles require companies to certify that they are fit and proper to hold them.

Mortgage and investment advisers are also covered by this section, along with others in consumer-facing roles.

The FCA said the directory had been designed to provide user-friendly, practical and easy to understand information.

As an example, it said consumers will be able to search by location to find advisers who are local to them.

The regulator’s proposals come after it received feedback on what consumers and firms would expect from such a directory.

It is planned to feature more information about individuals working in financial services sector than is currently available and the FCA said it will do so in a single, user-friendly place.

The watchdog yesterday also published its almost final rules on the extension of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) to almost all regulated firms.

Companies can now access the guides to the SM&CR to understand what steps they need to take to prepare for its implementation.

Jonathan Davidson, the FCA’s executive director of supervision (retail and authorisations), said: “We’ve listened to feedback from firms and consumers about the importance of being able to check the status of financial services staff.

“Introducing the directory will make it easier for people to be confident they can find the right people to deal with.

“Today’s publications are all about making sure that consumers can interact confidently with financial services professionals by setting clear standards for the behaviour of those individuals, and making available information about their fitness and propriety.”

Davidson added: “The Senior Managers and Certification Regime sets clear standards for the conduct that consumers and regulators expect from all financial services staff.

“These standards of behaviour are central to the FCA’s priority of promoting healthy cultures in firms.”