Topic hub
Governance and Decision Defensibility
Boards and executive teams are increasingly expected to show their working, not just their conclusions. When a decision is challenged after the fact, what matters is whether the reasoning, evidence and dissent were properly recorded and tested at the time, not simply whether the outcome was reasonable.
Polar Insight's view
Polar Insight helps leadership teams build decisions that can withstand scrutiny before it happens, by testing evidence quality, capturing genuine challenge, and creating a rationale that holds up under review.
Featured insights
FCA revokes LIBOR bans: enforcement credibility and the cost of relying on criminal convictions
The FCA has revoked bans against four former traders after the Court of Appeal overturned their LIBOR and EURIBOR convictions, closing a decade-long enforcement chapter. For senior leaders, the episode exposes the fragility of regulatory action built on criminal verdicts and reshapes expectations around individual accountability.
Nexus fraud guilty pleas: a £2m lesson in supervising the supervisors
Two senior figures at Nexus IFA and Nexus IM have pleaded guilty to defrauding clients of £2m between 2019 and 2023, with sentencing set for December. The case sharpens questions about director-level accountability, firm permissions, and how boards oversee small advice businesses where control is concentrated.
The FCA opens itself up: a board-level review of how it treats whistleblowers
The FCA has commissioned a board-level review of its handling of a long-standing whistleblower following his death, led by newly appointed non-executive director Lea Paterson. For regulated firms, the signal is that the regulator's own conduct toward vulnerable sources is now a governance matter, with implications for how firms themselves treat internal reporters.
Odey upheld: the Upper Tribunal's integrity finding and what it signals for founder-led firms
The Upper Tribunal has upheld the FCA's ban of Crispin Odey and imposed a £1.53 million fine, finding that he lacked integrity and dismantled his firm's governance to avoid accountability. The ruling reframes non-financial misconduct as a governance failure that boards, not just HR functions, are expected to prevent.
RTGS delay: why the CHAPS standards slip is a governance problem, not a technical one
The Bank of England has deferred the November 2026 RTGS standards release in its entirety after Swift postponed its own CBPR+ release, citing industry concerns about readiness for the removal of unstructured postal addresses. For boards that had budgeted, staffed and sequenced ISO 20022 migration around a fixed November date, the reset is a live test of change governance and vendor accountability.
Dolfin visa scheme: what the £35.5m ban says about SMCR integrity tests
The FCA has fined and banned former Dolfin executives over a scheme that helped at least 99 clients bypass investor visa rules, generating £35.5m in fees. The case resets expectations on shadow control, concealment, and senior manager integrity for boards across wealth and private banking.
Relevant guides
Board-Ready Research vs Market Research: How to Tell Them Apart Before You Commission
This guide explains the practical difference between market research and board-ready research, and how to decide which one you actually need. After reading, you will be able to brief the right kind of work, challenge weak outputs, and avoid taking generic market data into a board decision it cannot support.
How to Manage Assumption Risk in Strategic Planning
This guide explains how senior leaders in financial services should identify, test, and govern the assumptions underpinning their strategic plans. After reading, you will know how to surface fragile assumptions early, build challenge into the planning cycle, and prevent avoidable strategic failure.
What Procurement, Risk and Compliance Need Before Approving a New Supplier
A practical guide to the evidence, judgements and sequencing required before onboarding a new third party in a regulated firm. After reading, you will know what to demand from the business sponsor, what each control function must verify, and where approvals typically fail.
How to Build Stakeholder Intelligence Before a Board Decision
A practical guide to gathering, structuring, and presenting stakeholder intelligence before a material board decision in a regulated firm. After reading, you will know what to collect, how to test it, and how to deliver it in a form that sharpens board judgement rather than crowding it.
How to Structure an Internal Audit Opinion That Drives Board Action
This guide shows senior leaders how to craft an Internal Audit opinion on risk management effectiveness that compels decision-making rather than inviting line-by-line pushback from executives. You will finish with a clearer method for structuring the opinion, sequencing stakeholder engagement, and framing findings so the board acts.
How to Structure a Risk Appetite Statement That Drives Real Board Challenge
This guide explains how to design a Risk Appetite Statement that forces genuine board debate about strategic trade-offs rather than annual rubber-stamping. After reading, you will know what to change in your RAS structure, metrics, and board papers to surface the decisions that actually matter.