For financial firms, the plethora of ongoing obligations can seem overwhelming. But beware: even the smallest requirement can have severe repercussions if not met. How can professional compliance support reduce a firm’s risk of regulatory non-compliance?
Mapping Gaps Against Real Obligations
Firstly we carry out a full compliance review which maps out your current compliance against the FCA’s requirements. By reviewing your firm’s permissions, business model and current controls we are able to identify any gaps – areas where your current compliance is lacking in relation to FCA requirements. This could include the lack of key documentation, the absence of tested-out business practices and procedures or other obligations that you may not have been aware that you had to comply with in the first place.
Building Controls That Hold Up to Scrutiny
A written policy is not the same as a functioning control. We design, test and refine your firm’s compliance controls to ensure that they are sufficient to meet your obligations and continue to function as expected in times of stress. This includes testing your monitoring and record-keeping to confirm that they are sufficient to meet the FCA’s requirements for firm compliance.
Keeping Policies Current as Rules Shift
SM&CR, the Consumer Duty, and other obligations are subject to change and often it is only when a policy is two years old that it becomes apparent that it is no longer up to date with current rules and requirements. A FCA Compliance Consultant will ensure that your policies are always up to date with current rules and requirements.
Training Staff on Specific Conduct Rules
It’s well known that ‘awareness’ training on compliance generally doesn’t prevent breaches. On the contrary, much more effective is training that is targeted at specific Conduct Rules (and other applicable requirements) relevant to individual employees’ roles and functions.
Responding When the FCA Raises Concerns
Responding to the FCA – correspondence specialists. Good compliance work is mainly about preventing problems from occurring in the first place but there are times when things just don’t work out as planned for firms. When that happens, the way that a firm responds to correspondence from the FCA can make a huge difference to the outcome. If you want FCA Compliance Consultants, https://www.adempi.co.uk/ is a good place to start.
Good compliance work is primarily about preventing problems from occurring. However, having the correct support when things go wrong is equally important.