FSA CEO Resigns - The head of City watchdog the Financial Services Authority is to step down in the summer, it was announced yesterday. Hector Sants has resigned after three years as chief executive and the process to appoint his successor will be announced in due course. Mr Sants had been vocal in opposing plans by the Conservatives to disband the FSA and hand greater powers to the Bank of England. With the future of the FSA unclear after the general election, it is thought the FSA will hold off until after then before deciding on plans for a successor. Whatever happens, if the UK wishes to remain a player in international markets, care must be take to enhance, not devalue, the controls that do work. Is the Bank of England the right place for supervision to rest? It is easy to identify gaps in rules and blame these for failures rather than understanding and building upon strong foundations. An interesting argument to follow! By Gordon McMurray (10/02/10) ... more

FSA Slows Down Authorisations - It has become very clear that the FSA is on a slowdown when processing new applications for authorisation. The regulator appears to have been hit by high volumes of applications and requests for variations which has had the effect of even very simple applications taking up to 6 months to be determined. The moral of the story is, if you need to be authorised, the earlier you start the better. For further information or assistance with an application, please contact us. By Gordon McMurray (10/02/10) ... more

NRS and Linksfield Technologies announce joint Financial Sanctions Register checking service - London-based technology firm, Linksfield Technologies, has announced the launch of a jointly branded Financial Sanctions Register (FSR) Checker system with National Regulatory Services (NRS). As part of the agreement, Linksfield will offer NRS’ customers access to Linksfield’s Online FSR Checker which will be co-branded, enabling NRS customers to remain compliant with UK sanctions legislation. The Financial Services Authority recently warned small and medium sized institutions that controls need to be improved in order to avoid doing business with members on the Government’s “blacklist” of financial sanctions. The blacklist is managed by the Treasury and consists of around 1,400 individuals and 500 entities linked to terrorist financing in Britain and abroad. Software like the Financial Sanctions Register (FSR) Checker is designed to help smaller businesses compare their customer lists with updates from the Treasury’s list of financial sanctions targets. By Gordon McMurray (08/10/09) ... more

Dundas & Wilson Sept 09 RDR Update - Update from D&W on RDR. By Gordon McMurray (08/09/09) ... more

NRS offers Compliance Training for NEDs, Executive Directors and Senior Executives - NRS has offered compliance training courses to a select group of its clients over the last few years. Timing is now appropriate to offer this on a wider basis to non-executive directors and senior executives who must understand the businesses they are being asked to oversee. The concise 1 day course focuses on those areas of regulation and compliance that are of greatest importance for the increasingly complex roles and responsibilities within wholesale firms. The course is delivered in Edinburgh by NRS’s senior compliance consultants (all with 20+ years' coal-face experience). Course sizes are small (maximum of 6) to encourage interaction with your fellow delegates. This course is one of a number which cover topics from money laundering to compliance officer induction programmes. For more detailed information, please contact gordon.mcmurray@easyrule.co.uk. By Gordon McMurray (25/06/09) ... more