i-law.com - Newsletter (Compliance Monitor)

FCA focuses on quality and cost in financial advice review

By Neasa MacErlean

Online Published Date: 02 May 2019

Appeared in issue: Vol 31 No 08 - 01 May 2019

Office autocrats: facing dominant behaviours in financial services

The financial services industry is renowned for attracting forceful personalities and, at times, fostering negative group behaviours. Bucking these pressures is a formidable task for an individual and, lamentably, most whistleblowers still experience adverse reprisals. Neasa MacErlean reports on moves in the right direction.

Online Published Date: 09 May 2019

Appeared in issue: Vol 31 No 08 - 01 May 2019

Co-op Bank’s near-collapse – supervision under scrutiny

March saw the publication of Mark Zelmer’s ‘Independent review of the prudential supervision of The Co-operative Bank Plc’. Adam Samuel examines its mildly-expressed criticisms and points out an unaddressed conflict in the prudential regulator’s objectives.

Online Published Date: 09 May 2019

Appeared in issue: Vol 31 No 08 - 01 May 2019

Tribunal finds against Commerzbank for sex & maternity discrimination

Compliance staff at Commerzbank engaged in gender stereotyping, assuming “toxic” relations in the office must be the fault of “divisive” women, a tribunal has ruled. Martin Stevens analyses the judgment.

Online Published Date: 09 May 2019

Appeared in issue: Vol 31 No 08 - 01 May 2019

Payee verification deadline strikes hurdles

Authorised push payment fraud – where account holders are duped into sending funds to a fraudster rather than who they think they are paying – is, alarmingly, on the rise. One of the ways that the payments industry is fighting back is with ‘Confirmation of Payee’. But the complex technological and process changes involved in implementation, along with competition and data protection concerns, are hampering a speedy roll-out, report Angie Bamboulis and Caroline Stevenson.

Online Published Date: 09 May 2019

Appeared in issue: Vol 31 No 08 - 01 May 2019

Final guidance readies solo-regulated firms for SMCR extension

A diverse array of financial services businesses are undergoing an overhaul this year to the way their staff are regulated. The Financial Conduct Authority’s final guidance sets out its three-tiered approach, along with its expectations for Statements of Responsibilities and Responsibilities Maps. Louise Skinner and Thomas Twitchett highlight the key points.

Online Published Date: 09 May 2019

Appeared in issue: Vol 31 No 08 - 01 May 2019

Lessons from the Carphone Warehouse fine

A hefty fine for six-and-a-half years of mis-selling insurance policies might never have happened if not for whistleblowing reports – even though the firm itself failed to act properly upon them. Syedur Rahman discusses this and other learning points from the Carphone Warehouse case.

Online Published Date: 10 May 2019

Appeared in issue: Vol 31 No 08 - 01 May 2019