Smaller Business Practitioner Panel strengthened to help represent the compliance plights of small financial services businesses. The Smaller Business Practitioner Panel will receive beefed-up powers to help smaller financial services businesses deal with what the Financial Services Authority admits are sometimes “disproportionate” compliance demands. In the business plan for the Financial Conduct Authority, the FSA […]

The Financial Services Authority has told FTAdviser [http://www.ftadviser.com/2013/03/19/regulation/regulators/fsa-refuses-to-take-action-against-aggressive-employee-e91lvCey2FYnDf15hAB7eN/article.html] it has not taken – and will not be taking – disciplinary action against an employee who threatened staff at a firm with jail, despite the behaviour being found to be “unprofessional” and “aggressive” by the Complaints Commissioner.   Last week the FSA publicly apologised for the […]

Amount also represented approximately one-third of £313.4m, the total level of fines in 2012. The FSA has illustrated its transition to a tougher approach after its busiest February for enforcement with £101.4m in fines handed down. Mary Stevens, manager of regulatory content for Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, said the amount compared to just £9.2m in […]

In a case brought by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), Paul Milsom, a senior equities trader, has today been sentenced at Southwark Crown Court to 2 years imprisonment for disclosing inside information between October 2008 and March 2010. A confiscation order was also made in the sum of £245,000. During the relevant period Milsom was […]

 The FSA’s report following its thematic review into anti-bribery and corruption (ABC) systems was published in March 2012. This review was conducted across 15 investment banks and smaller firms specialising in investment banking business in the UK between August 2011 and January 2012. The FSA also consulted with Government, as well as other interested stakeholders […]

FSA has published the results of a mystery shopping review into the quality of investment advice in banks and building societies. It carried out the review over six months in the middle of 2012 and assessed six major firms in the retail banking sector over 231 mystery shops. The mystery shoppers claimed to want to […]

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is currently undertaking one of four planned thematic reviews into firms’ compliance with new rules following the Retail Distribution Review (RDR). Here are the 39 questions the regulator is asking its sample of 50 firms – and which you should be thinking about too… 1. Are services offered by your […]

We highlight some of the key regulatory decisions from 2012 and trends that are expected to continue into 2013. Increase in FSA regulatory fines The total amount of fines levied by the FSA in 2012 was £311,569,256, a marked increase from the total amount of £66,144,839 in the previous year.  The increase is perhaps not […]