FCA
Compliance overview
In a highly regulated market, keeping employees up to speed with regulation changes can be a big challenge for many organisations. However help is at hand! As well as reducing the risk of errors that might entail regulatory penalties, NETconsent reduces operational costs by streamlining the administration of policy documents, training and reducing the effort expended on meeting FCA training requirements.
About the Financial Conduct Authority
Mitigation of risk – by ensuring staff that are regulated by the FCA, understand and agree to comply with FCA policies.
Reducing processing time – by enforcing electronic acceptance or decline of FCA policies at logon.
Reduction of errors – that might entail regulatory penalties.
Administering proof – by providing a comprehensive audit trail of policies, policy acceptance, and user training.
Reports that pinpoint potential areas of risk – by testing user understanding of FCA compliance rules, and related policies they have read.
Automating the policy management life-cycle with NETconsent reduces the administrative burden, and makes tracking much easier.
Requirements of the Financial Conduct Authority
FCA regulatory challenges
The FCA rules and regulations are contained in the FCA Handbook, and are updated daily as new FCA rules are implemented. Keeping employees abreast of procedures such as those regarding complaints handling, anti-money laundering, mortgages, and Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) is a constant requirement.
The FCA Handbook Systems and Controls (SYSC) 4.1 and 6 relate to ownership, compliance, internal audit and financial crime. SYSC 6.1.1 specifically states that “A firm must establish, implement and maintain adequate policies and procedures sufficient to ensure compliance of the firm including its managers, employees and appointed representatives (or where applicable, tied agents) with its obligations under the regulatory system and for countering the risk that the firm might be used to further financial crime.“
For FCA authorised businesses, ensuring that UK regulatory responsibilities are fulfilled is paramount. The biggest challenge is finding practical as well as cost-effective ways to improve employee understanding of FCA regulations, in order to avoid FCA fines, penalties, and investigations in the first place.
About the Financial Conduct Authority
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is an independent non-governmental body, given statutory powers by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 as amended by the Financial Services Act 2012, to regulate the financial services industry in the UK. Since the replacement of the FSA with the FCA in April 2013, there have been significantly higher penalties against both organisations and individuals.
