Browse all articles across people aspects of regulation and people development within UK financial services
The run up to the 3rd January deadline for MiFID II felt less like a mad dash for the finish line and more like a headless chicken race. I think we can safely say no firm was entirely ready and therefore in 2018 there will continue to be lots of work to do.
In terms of regulatory change, the general insurance firms who comprise the majority of the businesses for whom my firm Searchlight delivers training and consultancy services have a lot on their plates right now. The Insurance Distribution Directive (which was due to come in to force in February but has been delayed until 1st October)
One of the key drivers for change within any training organisation is the need to anticipate, absorb and keep our customers up to date with forthcoming legal and regulatory developments.
The second Finance Bill 2017 passed its second reading on 12 September and as I write this the committee stages are expected to conclude no later than Thursday 26 October.The Bill was published on 8 September (named Finance Bill 2017-19, being the first Finance Bill of the 2017-19 parliamentary session).
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its quarterly consultation on proposed miscellaneous amendments to the Handbook.
Normally in this article I focus on a topical issue for our institutional colleagues in the Asset Management, Investment banking and wholesale activities. For this article I’m going to highlight the more human aspect of issues concerning our friends in non-retail businesses.
The Financial Conduct Authority [FCA] recently announced plans to drop its suggestion of a compulsory standalone qualification for the equity release market. Although there was much rejoicing in many quarters, others thought the U-turn was a backward step.
With issues around data protection and cyber security increasingly in the news these days, the forthcoming implementation of the The EU General Data Protection Regime (GDPR) is a big deal for UK companies of all types and sizes.
Martin Wheatley, CEO of the FCA recently spoke at the Lansons annual conference about the future of regulation. This year he choose “The Technology Challenge” as the basis for his speech and very interesting it was too.
June is the time of the year when industry commentators look forward to hearing the Governor of the Bank of England give his ‘Mansion House’ speech. Historically, the speech has ‘pulled no punches’ when analysing the state of the market or outlining the steps that the Bank intend to take to control the market.
When the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) took over from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) as regulator of the insurance sector last year, its chief executive Martin Wheatley stressed that it would be a very “different animal” from its predecessor.
By the time you read this item we will all know the results of two votes in Scotland, the first being the vote for Scottish independence and the second (long overdue, in my mind), whether or not the R&A Golf Club will admit women for the first time.
