Compliance Monitor

The FCA and PRA are receiving a barrage of criticism for their decisions to take no action against the individuals running HBOS when it collapsed in 2008.

After years of debate and in response to a succession of scandals, the United Kingdom has adopted a much more prescriptive approach to protecting financial services consumers. Scrutiny will fall not only on firms but also on the regulator to make a success of these reforms, writes Esther Martin.

The European Union has proposed an ambitious piece of legislation to address regulatory gaps in relation to cryptoassets and new technologies. Charlotte Hill and Katie Fry-Paul examine the proposal as currently understood.

In a recent tribunal case, over 2,000 consumers lost more than ?50 million after financial advice firms steered their pension savings to high-risk products in which an unauthorised firm had a significant interest. The regulator should use its powers to close a business or impose a new CEO, compliance officer or section 166 Skilled Person more often, says Adam Samuel.

A previous fine, work with a Skilled Person, along with group-wide third-party due diligence and approval processes, were insufficient to prevent corrupt payments related to Jardine Lloyd Thompson's South American business - including an instance of over US$3 million in bribes. Denis O'Connor analyses the lessons for careful consideration.

It is notoriously difficult to attribute criminal liability to large corporates in the United Kingdom. Proposals from the Law Commission for reform are on the table - including the extension of 'failure to prevent' offences to cover certain fraud charges. Thomas Cattee and Susana Ferr?n Pérez examine how the criminal law has developed, challenges to establishing criminal corporate liability, along with the recent proposals.

The FCA has confirmed that it has made a provisional decision to fine the manager of the Woodford Equity Income Fund, Link Fund Solutions Ltd.

Reduced premiums and cross-industry pooling arrangements are among the proposals being put forward for the high-rise and multi-occupancy buildings insurance market by the FCA.

Two transactions conducted unilaterally by institutions in Russia – but involving the UK operations of Sberbank – have led to assets being realised for the benefit of Russian parties. As the British sanctions watchdog examines the incidents, all financial services firms should see this as a wake-up call that they must be able to demonstrate adequate procedures against potential sanctions violations. Angelika Hellweger reports.