Client Assets sourcebook (CASS) medium and large firms have to complete a Client Money and Assets Return (CMAR) each month. Read more on how to submit a CMAR.
The CMAR gives us an overview of your firm’s client money and safe custody assets (client assets) positions and holdings, as well as a view of the trends in the industry. This enables us to make regulatory interventions in relation to client assets on a timely, firm-specific or thematic basis.
The information you include in the CMAR will be of interest to:
- The senior manager responsible for your firm's compliance with prescribed responsibility for client assets (CASS PR(z)).
- Your board.
It should also help the firm understand its own CASS position.
For a copy of the questions we ask in the CMAR and the accompanying guidance, please refer to SUP 16 Annex 29 and 29A.
Completing a CMAR
You should submit your CMAR within 15 business days of the end-date of the reporting period, and you can only enter data from that reporting period end-date, that is, the first day of the next calendar month.
For example, for an October 2014 return, data can be entered from 1 November 2014 and the return must be submitted by 21 November 2014.
Each month your firm’s principal RegData user will receive email reminders 8 and 3 days before the submission deadline. However, it is still the responsibility of your CASS PR(z) to ensure the form is fully and accurately completed and submitted by the monthly deadline.