Compliance Monitor

Distance Selling of Financial Services

The financial services industry is still reeling from a High Court decision in July this year which has resulted in a significant victory for consumers entitled to compensation for product mis-selling but who have also benefited from windfall payments received as a result of a firm’s demutualisation. John Virgo, barrister and Philip Ryley, solicitor take a brief look at the Needler decision and comment on how fair the judgment is and how it affects the industry.

With midnight on 30 November fast approaching, the time is ripe for compliance staff to review their firm’s N2 preparations. In this article, DLA provides a benchmark guide against which to measure project scope and progress.

The Financial Services Authority has adopted a risk-based approach to regulation as the most efficient route to meeting its own statutory objectives under the Financial Services Markets Act 2000. Firms, which face similar resourcing constraints and need to adjust to the new second generation, “non-tickbox”, high-level regulation, are starting to follow suit. In the first article in a two-part series, Irwin Spilka, Head, Internal Audit and Compliance at the Stonehage Group delineates a model for risk-based compliance monitoring. In the second article, to be published next month, Mr Spilka explains how to configure the Compliance Department in order to move from “assessing compliance with rules” to a focus on the “effectiveness of management systems” and provides a clear application of the model and risk mapping.

If you remain confused about the whys and wherefores of the with-profits policy, an investment vehicle that has come under the spotlight in connection with questions over the mis-selling of mortgage endowments and the problems faced by Equitable..

With N2 on the near horizon, the FSA Handbook is reaching its final form. The Authorisation and Supervision manuals are now “made text”. Few responses were received to the consultation and the FSA says it will issue revised guidance..

The Dispute Resolution: Complaints Sourcebook DISP 1-4 has been “legally made” by the Financial Services Authority and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). DISP5 rules, which cover funding of the FOS, are “virtually final”...

FSA Chairman pays price for Equitable

Joanna Gray, Solicitor and Senior Lecturer, School of Law, University of Northumbria