Replacement business: Your guide to best practice – The FSA today identified the good and bad practices when it comes to replacement business. Although the findings came following a thematic review into the use of centralised investment propositions, it said its recommendations were relevant to all firms providing investment advice. The FSA said poor outcomes […]

the Financial Ombudsman Service’s Annual Review – The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) Annual Review contained unpleasant food for thought for both the banking and insurance industries and also for the Financial Services Authority (FSA). There were a total of 264,375 new cases, up 28 percent with a shocking 64 percent uphold rate for cases concluded […]

Swiss SARs jump by 40 percent following Arab Spring fallout – The number of suspicious activity reports (SARs) filed by Swiss banks and other financial institutions jumped by 40 percent last year, largely prompted by the fallout from the Arab Spring. The total sums included in the reports reached a record high of CHF3 billion, […]

HSBC wins $300 million Shah claim – Businessess and their MLROs have welcomed a London High Court decision that saw wealthy Zimbabwean businessman Jayesh Shah fail in his $300 million claim against HSBC Private Bank. This HSBC case has been running for four and half years and has already been the subject of six reported […]

Director disqualification: what you need to know – “News International and its parent News Corporation exhibited wilful blindness, for which the companies’ directors …should ultimately take responsibility”; “We conclude, therefore, that Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company,” so concluded the cross party bench committee of […]

ACAS Publishes Guide On Promoting Positive Mental Health At Work – The Foreword to this useful guide points out that the 2011 Absence Management Survey produced by the CIPD reports that stress is now the most common reason for long-term sickness absence of both manual and non-manual workers. The ACAS guide aims to show employers […]

John Pottage V FSA and compliance obligations – The FSA will be ruing the day that it proposed a fine of £100,000 on John Pottage for his alleged failings when CEO of UBS in his capacity as both CF3 (Chief Executive) and CF8 (Apportionment and Oversight). Not only did the Tribunal not find Mr Pottage’s […]

FSA: 30-month rule applies to RDR requirements – The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has confirmed that the 30-month rule applies to most Retail Distribution Review (RDR) activities. In its latest RDR newsletter, the regulator said a number of firms had sought a clarification on the rule. It said: “The 30-month rule applies to most but […]