Senior persons who move into new positions have always been able to expect at least three months’ tending the roses. Thanks to the FSA, that period has now dilated to six months, and maybe longer.

In its new ferocious guise, the FSA has taken it upon itself to strenuously vet people applying for ‘significant influence positions.’ Such vetting includes the mandatory provision of large amounts of information confirming a candidate’s competence and, or, a follow-up interview.

Significant influence positions include all ‘significant management functions’, plus prop traders.

The good/bad news is that the FSA can take up to six months to conclude whether a candidate is adequate or not. During this time, the candidate will necessarily have resigned from their previous role. And if, during the six months, the FSA deems the candidate isn’t worthy of their approval, the new employer will typically retract the job offer. The individual concerned will be stuffed as result.

“We don’t apologise for the intensity with which we scrutinise applications,” says an FSA spokeswoman. “We aim to respond within six months of receiving a full and accurately completed application and within 12 months of receiving an incomplete application.”

One lawyer says he’s currently working with a candidate who made a minor error related to disclosures on the paperwork and that the FSA has taken nine months, so far, to process it.

Chris Brennan, a lawyer at Barlow Lyde and Gilbert, says most people do get through the FSA’s increasingly rigorous checks, but that anyone subject to them needs to be very careful not to make avoidable errors.

“You need to be very careful about your disclosures and to make sure that everything which could be deemed relevant is disclosed,” he says. “For example, if you have any arrangements where you’re a director of a company and haven’t resigned because it’s dormant, you need to include that.”

As we noted yesterday, anyone dismissed for gross misconduct can probably forget get a new significant influence job anytime in the near future. Their six months’ off may well become years.