Compliance Monitor

In this month’s update on EU financial services developments we review the following: the Basel Committee’s latest proposals for banking supervision made on 16 January 2001 and the launch of the European Commission’s recent consultation on new EU capital adequacy rules; the launch of the European Commission’s consultation on the regulation of financial conglomerates on 19 December 2000; the opening of talks with non EU countries on savings taxation.

The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA1998) provides important privacy rights for individuals seeking to protect their personal data. In many cases these rights are considerably stronger than those conferred under the previous Data Protection Act 1984 (DPA1984). As we accelerate into the information society, increasingly businesses are recognising personal data and information as essential assets and are looking to improve their efficiency through enhanced access and processing techniques. For organisations seeking to comply with DPA1998, the challenge is to translate its very broad (and sometimes ambiguous) language into practical, but at the same time commercially realistic, measures. As Victoria Bright, a Partner at DLA explains, this is by no means an easy task.

Enforcing the perimeter of the financial services market is one of the most challenging aspects of regulation facing the Financial Services Authority and its effectiveness in this role is a key to the Authority achieving its statutory objectives and maintaining credibility. John Virgo and Philip Ryley briefly examine two recent cases brought under the Financial Services Act 1986 and reflect on how such enforcement will be approached after N2.

In the concluding part of his examination of the impact of the FSA’s regulatory approach on people management and development, Viv Pyne of PricewaterhouseCoopers advocates integration with compliance and risk management. He argues that human resources management expertise with high level influence can provide crucial support to these functions and offers some practical suggestions for measures that firms can take to promote second-generation compliance, a “culture of commitment”.

The FSA recently sponsored detailed research into the reasons why some customers who purchase long-term investment products fail to maintain their payments. Their work coincided with and drew on the results of the PIA sixth annual survey of..

It was never seriously in doubt that the Financial Services Authority would waive its new authorisation requirements for firms and certain individuals (those who will need approval post-N2) that already carry out regulated activities under the..

The Money Laundering Sourcebook

Joanna Gray