Round Up Spring 2019

Does your accountant understand FCA requirements?

they’ve been given, whilst tax-efficient, has inadvertently caused FCA capital adequacy or reporting breaches. Contracting with an accountancy firm who are familiar with FCA regulation, either on an occasional basis (for example, when advising on a new business venture), or on a regular basis (for example, for GABRIEL completion), can help in a number of ways. An accountant without expert knowledge of FCA requirements is not in a position to give you appropriate advice.

It’s vital that your accountancy firm understands the FCA’s balance sheet requirements that apply to your firm. When appointing, or replacing your accountant, do you ask them whether they deal with other FCA authorised firms of your type ? We regularly receive enquiries about the financial aspects of GABRIEL regulatory reporting and business restructures. Some of these enquiries come from firms who have acted in good faith on the advice of their accountant. However, the advice

Clear and fair financial promotions The FCA has issued a ‘Dear CEO’ letter to regulated firms, reminding them of their requirements for fair, clear and unambiguous financial promotions. The FCA issued this letter having identified occasions that imply all of the referred activities (within a promotion) are FCA-regulated, when this isn’t the case. The FCA rarely issue this type of letter on the subject of promotions, so it’s reasonable to conclude that there’s an enhanced level of concern in this area. It’s likely they will be carefully monitoring a variety of promotions for the foreseeable future. Did you know? threesixty review around 3,000 financial promotions each year, including client agreements, business stationary, blogs, flyers, websites and radio / TV advertisements. Our reviews aim to help you publish compliant promotions that meet relevant FCA and Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) requirements. To take advantage of this service, contact our compliance helpdesk. How a suitably experienced accountant can help you ... • They can complete certain GABRIEL sections for you, using your firm’s accounts. • They will understand the negative impact of goodwill on capital adequacy when considering client bank purchases and other business transactions. • They can remind you of the possible need to complete an FCA Change of Control form when shareholdings change. • They will understand when audited accounts are required and could complete these for you. • They will understand the requirement for, and can complete, limited assurance reports and help with ICAAP documents and Pillar 3 disclosure (for DFM/BIPRU firms).

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