Latest News
You can find some recent articles that we have produced here:
FSA Client Asset Sourcebook (CASS) - Current rules and proposals: How much at risk are you?
The Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in September 2008 was a shock not only to the markets, but also to regulators. In the UK, the administration of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) raised major issues surrounding the ownership, security, traceability and availability of clients’ money and assets.
Transaction Monitoring
The FSA has taken a tough stance on Barclays Capital Securities Limited and imposed a fine of £2.45 million for transaction reporting failures.
Changes to the Approved Persons Regime
The FSA has recently issued a consultation paper (CP8/25) regarding their proposed changes in Approved Persons. In essence there are five specific changes being proposed, and if brought into policy as proposed, will have an effect to differing degrees on most firms later this year. Importantly, a common thread throughout these proposals is the issue of competence of the individual that now needs to be considered and evidenced – worst case, the FSA can sanction the firm for not appointing competent persons but more likely, being able to sanction the individual for the same issue.
Website Standards
Guidance on the rules and requirements of the FSA regarding company webtsites. As this is a general oversight individual firms will have to consider their website specifically for the activities they conduct. A snapshot view of some clients’ websites revealed many did not appear to meet some very basic requirements of the FSA. This can consequently lead to further investigation and action from the FSA.
Liquidity transition and provisions
Following our paper on the subject New Liquidity Regime dated March 2009, this is an update and summary of the requirements that have been amended since that earlier paper.
Liquidity stress tests
The FSA has published a consultation paper (8/22) on the proposed new liquidity requirements that are expected to come into force in October 2009. It is a significant paper with 166 pages of detail. This note is therefore a short synopsis of the main features and is written generally rather than specifically for your firm.
