Financial Services - Regulatory & Risk
CASS – FSA can't see the Wood for the trees?
The FSA is hammering home its CASS message so hard that I am running out of CASS blog titles!
Read moreDodgy estate agents beware
If you have failed to register with the OFT as an estate agent or have registered but are failing to comply with the AML regulations, then beware.
Read more"I like risky": spread betting firm did not exceed permissions by providing advice
In for a penny, in for a pound, or in for £313,067.02.
Read moreAiming at different targets? An update on ARROW outcomes
The FSA's recent Smaller Wholesale Insurance Intermediaries newsletter contains some interesting observations on ARROW visits it has carried out recently.
Read moreRPC’s Financial Services Update – November 2011
Our Financial Services Update (November 2011 edition) is now available.
Read more'SFO Confidential' - combatting corruption on a shoestring
In a resourceful move by Richard Alderman, the SFO last week revealed a new service it hopes will help to identify fraud and bribery in the City.
Read moreEverything you wanted to know about FOS and are no longer afraid to ask
The FOS opened last week for the business of being open. It is now subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
Read moreThe regulator, regulated: Judge tells FSA to follow same procedures as police
A High Court Judge has heavily criticised the FSA's use of legally privileged material in an enforcement action in circumstances where the individual concerned was never informed that such material would be used, much less consulted as to whether he waived privilege.
Read moreMore CASS casualties
Recent announcements regarding Towry Investment Management Limited and MF Global UK confirm the protection of client money and custody assets remains one of the FSA's top priorities.
Read moreProduct intervention - is the FSA jumping the gun on its new powers?
On two successive days last week, the FSA issued guidance consultation on product design.
Read moreThe FRC's proposals for reform - a clearer focus?
The FRC has recently published consultation proposals for its reform.
Read moreCausation, causation, causation...
Lord Turner's key note speech at the Mansion House on 20 October confirms the FSA wants Parliament to reconsider the 'trade-off'...
Read moreNames of junior AML staff not disclosable under standard disclosure
For many firms subject to the anti-money laundering regulations it is a case of 'damned if you do, damned if you don't':
Read moreLindsay Middleton joins RPC
As Head of RPC’s Regulatory Group, I am delighted to announce that we have recruited Lindsay Middleton.
Read moreStatutory interest and the real world – time to bridge the gap?
In the UK it is accepted that the aim of compensation is to put a person back into the position they would have been in had they not suffered loss.
Read moreIndependence in the new world of RDR
Go in search of an IFA who isn't worried about the impact of RDR on their independence, and you'll probably be searching for a while.
Read morePI 'trading debts exclusion' prevents claims for CFA scheme debts when ATE won't pay
A judgment became public yesterday which concerns the operation of the trading debts exclusion in a solicitors' indemnity policy and also the scope of cover afforded by such policies more generally.
Read moreLloyd's confirms that there is no movement in the Solvency II timetable
For the avoidance of any doubt Lloyd's confirmed (yesterday) that the current timetable for both managing agents and Lloyd's still applies.
Read moreWomen wanted: FRC and ABI want greater diversity on boards
Just 14 per cent of directors – executive and non-executive – of Britain’s 100 biggest companies are women.
Read moreAll aboard the causation bandwagon...
Like the proverbial buses that eventually arrive in pairs, at a time when there has been much controversy about the issue of causation
Read moreUK self-assesses anti-bribery controls as part of UN review
The UK has now published a self-assessment of its anti-bribery controls as part of a UN review intended to evaluate the UK's compliance with its obligations as a signatory to the UN Convention against Corruption.
Read moreFighting the cause for causation...
In response to my press release about a proposal to do away with the law of causation from the financial services sector (on which Robbie Constance commented in more detail)
Read moreSRA Handbook - a slim volume of new rules for solicitors?
In 1974 the Law Society published a slim volume entitled "A guide to the professional conduct of solicitors."
Read moreWhich will happen first - the end of the FSA or the introduction of Solvency II?
The FSA's revised implementation assumption that Solvency II will not come into force for firms until 1 January 2014 is a belated acceptance of delay in the negotiation of the Omnibus Directive and the European legislation which had been known in Brussels for months.
Read moreThe missing link: FSA wants strict liability by disapplying the law of causation
The FSA has now floated the idea of enshrining in statute what we have long known to be its (and FOS') objection to the law of causation.
Read moreA word of 'advice'
'Advice' is a loaded word. Different interpretations have very significant and distinct regulatory implications:
Read moreOFT to investigate 'super-complaint' into high costs of currency and using cards overseas
The OFT this morning confirmed that it has received a 'super complaint' from Consumer Focus, a dedicated consumer body, about the high costs to the consumer of using credit and debit cards overseas and obtaining foreign currency.
Read moreTime (bar) is of the essence...
Last Thursday marked the third anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers which may have drawn a line in the sands of time for complaints about the mis-selling of investments before September 2005.
Read moreCMC trade association should be welcomed, not derided
A number of CMCs combined last week to launch the Association of Professional Claims Managers (APCM) to "increase the professionalism and levels of service provided by regulated claims management companies".
Read moreFOS announces plans to publish Ombudsman decisions (in full)
On Friday, the FOS released a consultation paper on its proposal to publish Ombudsman decisions.
Read moreSFO turns to tax returns to uncover bribery
It was reported last week that the SFO will call for companies' tax returns in a bid to uncover (particularly overseas) bribery payments.
Read moreFirst Bribery Act prosecution - an opportunity missed
The news of the first prosecution under the new Bribery Act will leave commentators and headline writers alike disappointed.
Read moreStart your engines – OFT launches private motor insurance call for evidence
The OFT has this morning issued a 'call for evidence' on the UK private motor insurance industry.
Read moreFOS complaints: you win some; you lose some (or only a few; or almost all)
Today's latest round of FOS complaints data tells the expected tale of woe about PPI complaints but also shows a remarkable disparity between firms' success rates.
Read moreMortgage Verification Scheme to combat mortgage fraud
HMRC, the CML and the BSA have just launched the Mortgage Verification Scheme aimed at combating mortgage application fraud.
Read morePPI: The storm before the hurricane?
Yesterday the FSA announced the levels of redress paid by firms during the first six months of 2011 to consumers who have complained about mis-selling of PPI.
Read moreOne ombudsman, two ombudsmen, three ombudsmen, more?
In a world where the various ombudsmen are replacing the Courts for the resolution of consumer claims, what happens when two or more respondent firms are covered by the jurisdiction of different ombudsman schemes?
Read moreMorrison fined by the FSA
At first sight, headlines about a hefty fine meted out by the FSA on a former director of a supermarket chain may have led people to presume that Sir Ken Morrison had incurred the wrath of the Food Standards Agency rather than the Financial Service Authority.
Read moreThe CASS alarm bells continue to ring
The FSA's latest pronouncements about CASS make it all the more likely that insurance intermediaries will press for 'risk transfer' in their terms of business agreements with insurers to avoid CASS altogether.
Read moreDouble immunity - the PRA and FCA will remain untouchable
On reading reports recently about criticism of the FSA's handling of an unauthorised investment scheme which left 800 investors £11.5 million out of pocket
Read moreThose who live in glass houses... UK's anti-bribery controls to be subject to UN peer review
Timing is everything. Just as the Bribery Act 2010 beds in, it has been announced that the UK will be subject to peer review under the UN Convention against Corruption.
Read moreUnravelling trust transactions – the party’s still on in Jersey
I previously reported on the English Court of Appeal’s decision in the combined appeals of Futter v Futter and Pitt v Holt which clarified (or so we thought) the approach to setting aside transactions for mistake under English law.
Read moreFOS believes respondent firms should be seen but not heard
Tucked at the end of Ombudsman News edition 95 in a little Q&A section about recent queries to its technical advice desk is a bold statement about the FOS' reluctance to hold oral hearings.
Read moreCMCs - why not cut out the middle man?
A joint note from the MoJ, FSA, FOS and FSCS issued last week sets out the role that CMCs play in financial services complaints and highlighted the potential drawbacks of engaging a third party in the complaints procedure.
Read moreRDR: To delay or not to delay, that is the question
The Treasury Select Committee recommended in its recent report that the implementation of RDR be delayed for one year (until January 2014).
Read moreEIS and VCT promotions: suitability not guaranteed
The FSA's explicit warning about Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Venture Capital Trust (VCT) financial promotions will do little to help financial advisers defend complaints about such investments if FOS makes a habit of disregarding their 'preferential tax status'.
Read moreNews Corp/BSkyB – a blow to an independent competition regime
In my letter to the editor in today's Financial Times, I reported on the dangers of mixing politics with regulation.
Read moreInsurance intermediaries must take care with CASS
The FSA's avowed intention to zero in on insurance intermediaries' client money systems and controls should set alarm bells ringing.
Read moreFSA wealth management review deadline only a month away
By 9 August, wealth managers must respond to the FSA's Dear CEO letter to confirm they are currently meeting the FSA's suitability requirements for client portfolios and mitigating the risk of future non-compliance.
Read moreAccountability without liability
Last week the FSA laid the foundations of the FCA with the publication of "The Financial Conduct Authority - Approach to Regulation".
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