T&C still looks to exams

Firms expecting guidance on the meaning of “expertise”, under the MiFID-inspired competent employees rule, and “a good standard of ethical behaviour” will be disappointed by the FSA's refusal to oblige in the final streamlined version of the Training and Competence (TC) Sourcebook for retail business issued in July. The regulator merely says that it regards expertise as a “subset” of competence, which embodies the “necessary combination of knowledge and skills” for a given role. Ethical behaviour is an essential ingredient of competence, it notes, but enumeration will be a matter for senior management. Further help with interpretation may however be available in due course from the Financial Services and Skills Council (FSSC), which plans to issue industry guidance on T&C arrangements, for which it will seek FSA confirmation.