Compliance Planning 2023

Yesterday's session for compliance officers discussed the priorities for firms in 2023, following up on the last session.?

The session began with a discussion of what the FCA's key priorities are: Consumer duty, Changes in appointed representatives agreements, Financial promotions, Diversity, Vulnerable customers, Cost of living crisis and fairness for customers, AML and Sanctions.

Also, the FCA has published the results of its Consumer Duty implementation plan reviews

In the session, some attendees shared their firms' agendas for 2023 and what is foremost in their minds. Here is a list of them

• Sanctions
• ISO accreditation/consumer duty/engagement
• Consumer duty?
• Conduct risk?
• Financial crime?
• Third party risks (outsourcing and operational resilience)
• Changing from a manual process to an automated
• Operational resilience

What are the priorities or agendas of your firm?

Furthermore, two areas were highlighted as being essential to their implementation plans.

One issue is around resourcing, which is always a concern. What is the best way to get the right amount of resources? If you need additional resources, how can you justify them? Do you outsource as a firm?

The most important, though is about compliance training - how can we ensure it works and does not just turn out to be a tick box exercise? The importance of compliance training in any business cannot be overstated, as it ensures that employees understand the rules and regulations that must be adhered to. By doing so, employees are made aware of their ethical and legal obligations. Employees can also be made aware of any changes in regulations that may affect them. In addition, compliance training can reduce liability and risks, as well as make employees safer and more productive. The ultimate goal of compliance training is to create a safe, compliant workplace, which is essential for any organisation.

Inadequate training can have severe consequences. There was a case where a firm was fined because the secretary took the traders' training.

This illustrates that training is key to ensuring people are prepared for the moment of truth. A compliance culture can also be driven through training. If you're considering reshaping your training strategy, then contact Steve Brett for more information about how E3 Compliance Training can assist.