Frequently
asked.

Senior Managers (SMFs), compliance officers, HR leads, general counsel, and consultants advising FCA-regulated firms who need a defensible operating model for non-financial misconduct under COCON 1.1.7FR (effective 1 September 2026).

Yes. The 161-page First Edition is free to download in exchange for your work email. We use your email only to deliver the guide and — with your consent — occasional updates when new editions ship. No third-party sharing, ever.

Every download page shows the published SHA-256 checksum of the master file. After downloading, drop your copy into the built-in verifier on the download page and it will hash your file in-browser and confirm a byte-for-byte match. You can also run 'shasum -a 256' in a terminal.

No. This is professional education. It reflects our reading of published FCA materials, PS25/23, and COCON 1.1.7FR. Apply it with your own legal, HR, and compliance advisers — nothing here creates an advisory relationship.

TRACE is the five-step operating doctrine set out in the guide: Threshold, Responsibility, Architecture, Compile, Embed. It gives Senior Managers a recallable framework for making — and evidencing — reasonable-steps decisions under pressure.

Yes. The guide will be revised as FCA guidance evolves. Everyone on the download list gets the update automatically at no cost.

Yes — please share internally within your firm. For redistribution, quoting in publications, or training materials, get in touch first at info@automatedcompliance.co.uk.

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Reasonable Steps — a UK compliance practice focused on making non-financial misconduct defensible in a regulator meeting or an employment tribunal. See the About page for the author's background.