1.2 CSQM 1 Roles and Responsibilities

The Firm is required to assign responsibilities for the system of quality management (SQM), other aspects of the SQM and to hold the individuals accountable for their assigned roles. Individuals assigned these responsibilities are required to have the appropriate experience, knowledge, time, influence and authority.

System of Quality Management

If not already done, ensure you have assigned the following roles related to your SQM:

• Individual with ultimate responsibility and accountability (your SQM leader).
• Individual with operational responsibility.

Depending on the size of your Firm and intended responsibilities, these might be the same individual or different individuals.

Specific Roles (as required)

If required, you may want to assign other specific roles related to your system of quality management. These do not have to be assigned ahead of time but rather can be considered as part of the design of your system of quality management. Such roles may include and are only required if needed:

• Individual with operational responsibility for HR
• Individual with operational responsibility for IT
• Individual with operational responsibility for the monitoring and remediation process
• Individual with operational responsibility for compliance with independence requirements
• Individual with operational responsibility for other areas as needed

Factors that may influence additional roles include the complexity of the Firm, assignment of other roles and responsibilities, organizational structure and other requirements within your Firm.

Requirements

In all cases, it important the individual(s) assigned to their roles have the appropriate experience, knowledge, influence, authority and time to fulfill their assigned responsibility. The individual is required to understand the assigned role and are accountable for fulfilling them. Finally, the standard requires an annual performance review of these individuals.

Action Required: Documentation of SQM Roles

The SQM Toolkit Database will help you meet these requirements. In Lesson 2.5 of the pre-workshop activities, you will document the SQM roles as part of your initial set up of the SQM Toolkit Database.