COMPLIANCE SERVICES

Our compliance team of experienced consultants can visit a firm anywhere in the country and visits can be easily booked by contacting Audit & Risk through the Compliance Department.

Subscribers can choose a level of service to suit their business needs (see table of services) ranging from one compliance visit per annum to four compliance and T&C visits (max 8 visits per year) at times of your choosing.

All compliance support visits are followed up by detailed reports complete with recommendations for improvements where required and post report assistance by telephone with the consultant that carried out the visit.

Our full package includes:

Induction course attendance – This is a two day regulatory refresher course and covers areas such as FSA updates, financial promotions, sales and marketing tools, an introduction to our Point of Sale system (Vision Software) and mortgage sourcing tools.

On-line regulatory handbook – regularly reviewed and updated and available for you to view on-line or print out. Contains sections detailing:

• Regulatory compliance
• Sales procedures guides
• Training and competence scheme
• Money laundering and data protection
• Complaints handling.

Electronic updates and compliance bulletins – e-mailed to you directly and covering recent FSA changes to regulation and a monthly newsletter from our Business Quality Assurance team to keep you updated on matters affecting business quality.

Assistance & Guidance on Recruitment and Referencing – Access to our R&R specialists to assist you with the regulatory recruitment and referencing procedures and adviser fitness and propriety

Suitability Letter templates and other documents – Our members area contains a suite of helpful documents to assist you with remaining compliant and helping ease the regulatory burden.

IDDs – Our member’s area also contains a suite of compliant IDD templates for regulated and non-regulated business for you to use.

Complaint Handling Assistance – Varying degrees of complaint handling support are available, from guidance on final response letters and correspondence from customers and the Financial Ombudsman.

Financial Promotion Approvals – subscribers can submit any financial promotion for compliance checking and approval (this does not absolve the firm of their regulatory responsibilities) and obtain detailed feedback on changes required if necessary.

Reduced Cost PI Cover – At higher scales of compliance support subscription we can offer a reduced cost PI cover or even free PI cover (terms & conditions apply).

Initial Compliance Set-Up meeting – Subscribers have the option of requesting an initial compliance health check covering the main regulatory areas. This would include a check of the main registers, records and logs, and how the firm’s T&C scheme operates.

Annual Compliance Visit – following a similar format to an FSA ARROW visit and includes reviews of areas such as:

• 1-2-1 meetings
• Factfind observations
• Product Presentation Observations
• Business sources
• Regulatory permissions
• T&C scheme set up, assessments and records
• Setting development action points

Desk-based and field compliance contacts – Subscribers will have access to the full compliance team covering areas such as financial promotions, R&R, RMAR, general compliance matters and also access to a field based compliance consultant who can arrange visits at short notice should they be required.