i-law

Compliance Monitor

LIBOR no more: benchmark transition completes

The FCA and other regulators have issued final warnings as they took the unusual step of celebrating the completion on 30 September of one of their longest projects - the transition away from LIBOR, a journey which took over a decade.
Online Published Date:  01 October 2024

The PRA's distinctive enforcement approach

The prudential and conduct regulators have each forged bespoke procedures for taking action against parties for breaches of their rulebooks. Firms and individuals under enforcement investigation by the Prudential Regulation Authority must make key decisions early in the process as well as consider specific risks, say Jack Moore and Hywel Jenkins.
Online Published Date:  01 October 2024

General insurance product governance: from supervisory neglect to overkill?

In a recent review of non-investment insurancethe Financial Conduct Authority "has woken up to what it always assumed was a sleepy backwater of its activities and found some highly undesirable activities". The regulator's opinions sometimes go well beyond what its rulebook says and what can sensibly be achieved by a corporate board in practice, commentsAdam Samuel.
Online Published Date:  01 October 2024

Operational resilience: countdown to March 2025

As we hit the home stretch before the FCA's rules on building operational resilience come into force, the regulator has published "insights and observations" to help in-scope firms with their preparations. Michael Lewis and Emma Radmore examine the requirements and what needs to be done now.
Online Published Date:  01 October 2024

Review of PEP procedures finds "room for improvement"

After complaints from United Kingdom parliamentarians and their close associates that they had been plied for excessive information or denied services by banks, the FCA has conducted a review of how firms have implemented Guidance for a "risk-based and proportionate approach". All firms have work to do, the regulator concluded. By Denis O'Connor.
Online Published Date:  01 October 2024

Warning on challenger banks' account-opening controls, as Starling fined £29m

Starling Bank has been penalised £28,959,426 for failings in its financial crime systems and controls that allowed it to open accounts for over 500 high-risk customers who should have been immediately refused.
Online Published Date:  02 October 2024

Financial services face up to deepfake risks

Deepfake incidents in the financial sector increased within Europe by over 780 per cent last year. Given the threats this technology presents to customer onboarding, fraud detection and systems security, Caroline Dawson and Oscar Tang outline the regulatory landscape and suggested actions for firms.
Online Published Date:  03 October 2024

TSB shells out £10.9m fine and £100m redress for mishandling customers in arrears

TSB has been penalised £10.9 million for failing to ensure that customers in arrears were treated fairly.
Online Published Date:  10 October 2024

Competition study unveiled on premium finance as APRs hit 30%

Insurance providers and brokers that offer options to their customers to pay premiums monthly or in other instalments instead of annually could see their profits cut back on this £1.2 billon market after the FCA launched a competition market study.
Online Published Date:  16 October 2024

FCA welcomes UK financing plan for net-zero transition

The regulator has embraced a blueprint for transitioning to net zero but its broad statement does not provide dates. The Government-commissioned Transition Finance Market Review (TFMR) lays out ways of providing "transition capital" to United Kingdom companies - and the regulator says that this "remains a priority for us".
Online Published Date:  17 October 2024

VW finance arm fined after cars towed away without notice

Volkswagen's financial services arm has become the fifth UK company to be penalised by the FCA for not treating customers in financial difficulty fairly.
Online Published Date:  21 October 2024

20 finfluencers quizzed under caution, in FCA social media crackdown

The regulator is interviewing 20 finfluencers under caution on the grounds that they may be touting financial services products illegally.
Online Published Date:  22 October 2024

Misconduct cases rise 72% in three years - but this could reflect better systems and reporting

One of the first surveys on non-financial misconduct has shown that bullying, harassment and discrimination are the main areas where allegations are made - and that the total numbers of incidents rose by 72 per cent between 2021 and 2023.
Online Published Date:  25 October 2024

Wise plc CEO's fine for tax default boosted x12 to deter similar failings

Described as a "deliberate tax defaulter", the chief executive ofinvestment firmWise plc, Kristo Käärmann, has been fined £350,000 for not informing the regulator that he was in default of a tax debt.
Online Published Date:  28 October 2024

Stockton-on-Tees advisers banned for lack of competence on pension transfers

Two advisers from Stockton-on-Tees have been fined and banned for giving poor advice when advising 97 per cent of their defined benefit pension clients to transfer out.
Online Published Date:  31 October 2024

Whistleblowing CO wins £560,000 unfair dismissal claim

A compliance officer who was sacked after refusing to turn a blind eye to suspicious inter-company transactions, unauthorised directors and the hiring of an individual flagged by UK authorities as a Chinese spy, has had all his 'protected disclosures' upheld by the Employment Tribunal, reports Denis O'Connor.
Online Published Date:  31 October 2024

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