HELP FOR FINANCIAL ADVISERS

As principles based regulation is open to interpretation by both firms and their regulator it is only natural to expect to seek an outside opinion and there are a number of compliance firms who can provide this sort of service. Of course, if the Financial Services Authority (FSA) discover a material difference from their expected standards then they have the power to oblige a firm to take on external help through Section 166 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA).

The FSA does not require a firm to use consultants and many firms are able to manage their own compliance using the FSA website and its contact centre.

However, as the FSA points out on its own website, you must have a framework for:

assessing and covering the risks to your business
meeting regulatory requirements
checking your firm continues to be compliant

Telos has designed its compliance service to help intermediaries carry out remedial action required by the FSA on past sales, and providing advice on how to avoid such action in future.

Whether an intermediary firm is aware that they are to be visited by the FSA or simply wants to ensure they meet the current requirements, the Telos Compliance service can help by reviewing the existing operating processes, systems, controls and documentation to establish any shortfall in relation to current FSA expectations.

The following trade bodies also have useful links on obtaining additional help for intermediaries.

APCC - Appointing a consultant
AIFA - AIFA Home Page
AMI - AMI Home Page