Dear CEO Letter – Q3 Round-Up

For compliance and governance teams, the message is that third-party appointments cannot be treated as administrative placements: the arranging firm must be able to evidence suitability, due diligence, clear accountability, ongoing monitoring and effective escalation. Firms should expect supervisory scrutiny of board/company secretarial support chains, including conflict management and documentation of oversight. Although the excerpt does not announce new rules, Dear CEO letters are an early signal of supervisory expectations and can inform inspection priorities.

Action: map all third-party director/company secretary arrangements, refresh onboarding and periodic review checks, define who owns oversight, test reporting lines and retain contemporaneous evidence. Senior management should challenge whether appointments remain appropriate and whether clients understand responsibilities. CSPs with robust frameworks may gain competitive advantage; those relying on informal oversight face remediation and supervisory risk.