Activities Archive

Our 2013 annual forum will be on 11 March 2013.

Our annual London forum will be held on 11 March 2013 at the offices of Blackrock which are in the City (Drapers Gardens, 12 Throgmorton Avenue, London  EC2N 2D) to be followed by a networking session at a local hostelry. 

Topics will include:

• An address from the FSA focusing on the transition to the FCA/PRA
• RDR – Implementation/supervision in the new world, with a chance to put forward questions prior to the forum
• Choice of either: RDR – Implementation/supervision in the new world, with a chance to put forward questions prior to the forum  (FSA presentation) OR GI – A round up of the influences on the GI market
• European Development and regulation
• Simon Morris of Cameron McKenna gives his views on Enforcement – How this will be carried over into the new world of regulators
• Choice of either: VAT and RDR – what this means to financial services firms OR AIFMD – structured discussion with industry experts OR What GI consultants need to be thinking about in a post FCA world
•  a report from the chairman of the Association, including professional standards
• the 2013 annual and also an extraordinary general meeting of the Association. 

The event will start at 10 am with registration open from 9:30 and will finish at 5 pm and followed by our traditional networking session this time at a The Basement Bar, 23 Austin Friars, EC2N 2QP following the formal conclusion of the event. 

Registration for this all day event is now open.  You can book online or you can complete a registration form.  The detailed programme for the day can be found here.

Program and registration details for the Northern Forum event to be held on 19 September at the John Smith Stadium (previously called the Galpharm Stadium) in Huddersfield.

The program for the event is as follows:

12:45 – 1:15 Registration, tea and coffee
1:15 – 1:20   Welcome and introduction - Russell Facer, APCC
1:20 – 3:00   Authorisations and Variations of Permissions – Current Issues presented by James
                    Borley, Gillian Lavabre and Nicola Wildman, managers within the FSA Authorisations
                    and Variations of Permissions Departmentincluding delegate Q & A
3:00 – 3:20   Tea
3:20 – 3:40   FSA Communications Department Update - David Thompson, FSA
3:40 – 4:00   APCC Update - Russell Facer, APCC

Delegates from both APCC member firms and from non-members are welcome.  The fee for delegates from APCC member and affiliate firms is £48 (£40 plus VAT) and for all other delegates the fee is £120 (£100 plus VAT).  You can book for this course using our online booking system for this event or by downloading and completing the registration form for this event.

This is an interactive event so please do come fully armed with all your questions and issues on authorisations and variations of permissions. 

Program and registration details for the Southern Forum event to be held on 26 September at 117 Houndsditch, London EC3A 7BT.

The program for the event is as follows:

10:00 – 10:30 Registration, tea and coffee
10:30 – 10:35 Welcome and introduction - Simon Collins, APCC
10:35 – 12:15 Authorisations and Variations of Permissions – Current Issues presented by managers
                     from the FSA's authorisations department including delegate Q & A
12:15 – 12:35 Tea break
12:35 – 13:00 FSA Communications Department Update - David Thompson, FSA
13:00 – 13:15 APCC Update - Simon Collins, APCC

Delegates from both APCC member firms and from non-members are welcome.  The fee for delegates from APCC member and affiliate firms is £48 (£40 plus VAT) and for all other delegates the fee is £120 (£100 plus VAT).  You can book for this course using our online booking system for this event or by downloading and completing the registration form for this event.

This is an interactive event so please do come fully armed with all your questions and issues on authorisations and variations of permissions. 

On 13 July 2012 the FSA held a briefing for legal, accountancy and consultancy firms who provide Skilled Persons reports on firms regulated by the FSA.

The briefing looked at the recent use of Skilled Persons reports, the internal FSA processes that are being developed to improve the effectiveness of the Skilled Person report, the FSA's expectations in respect of Skilled Persons reports, the lessons learnt over the last 12 months, the impact of the Financial Services Bill, how the FCA and PRA are likely to use this tool and the planned changes over the next 12 months.

A summary of this briefing plus the March briefing given by the FSA at the APCC's annual forum event and the presentation slides used at the July briefing can be accessed by logged in members of the APCC.

Representatives of the APCC Steering Council met with the FSA Permissions Department in April 2012 to discuss developments within that department and to review the working guidelines. 

Representatives of the APCC Steering Council met with the FSA Permissions Department in April 2012 to discuss developments within that department and to review the working guidelines.  The summary of the meeting and the updated guidelines are now available to logged in users of the website.

During this meeting the FSA asked that if any consultants were aware of prospective banking applicants that were jurisdiction shopping they contact James Borley at the FSA.

In addition the FSA noted that during the Olympics and ParaOlympics many of their staff would be working from home due to likely travel and other disruptions during this period.  As a result authorisation applications should be submitted both in paper and electronic form if they are to be dealt with during the extended Olympic period.  More details on this can be found here.

An interactive update for consultants on topical compliance issues.

AGENDA

1:15 - Rory Percival from the FSA  - Overview of assessing suitability; centralised investment propositions and replacement business

2:15 - Gordon Finlay from the FSA communications department on
- BRAW – update on workshops and regulatory reviews
- RDR – details of any upcoming work
- Positive Compliance workshops – what is covered and locations
- Future workshops or events
- Compliance consultants/FSA survey – more info on next survey
- Other areas to be confirmed.

3:00 - Break

3:20 - Delegate Q & A session on all regulatory compliance topics

3:40 - Russell Facer: APCC update

4:00  -Finish

This event is open to consultants from both member and non-member firms. For delegates from member and affiliate firms the fee is £40 plus VAT (£48), for all other delegates the fee is £100 plus VAT (£120).

You can book for this event by going to our online booking page for this event. Alternatively you can download and complete the registration form for this event.

An interactive update for consultants on topical compliance issues.

AGENDA

10:00 - Registration opens

10:30 - Rory Percival from the FSA  - Overview of assessing suitability; centralised investment propositions and replacement business

11:30 - Gordon Finlay from the FSA communications department on
- BRAW – update on workshops and regulatory reviews
- RDR – details of any upcoming work
- Positive Compliance workshops – what is covered and locations
- Future workshops or events
- Compliance consultants/FSA survey – more info on next survey
- Other areas to be confirmed.

12:15 - Break

12:35 - Delegate Q & A session on all regulatory compliance topics

12:55 - APCC update

13:15 - Finish

This event is open to consultants from both member and non-member firms. For delegates from member and affiliate firms the fee is £40 plus VAT (£48), for all other delegates the fee is £100 plus VAT (£120).

You can book for this event by going to our online booking page for this event. Alternatively you can download and complete the registration form for this event.

Our flagship annual event was this year held at the offices of Addleshaw Goddard, Milton Gate, 60 Chiswell Street, London EC1Y 4AG or participants could view it at their desk via webex.
 

The event included:
• presentations on topical issues by the FSA and industry speakers
• an opportunity to ask questions directly of the speakers
• networking with other professional consultants and meeting representatives of the Association

Following the close of the formal part of the event the APCC hosted a networking session at The Globe (83 Moorgate) for all delegates and speakers.

The agenda for the event included the following:

•    chairman's introduction
•    a keynote address from Mike McAteer, director of the FSA
•    Fiona Raistrick of the FSA speaking on developments in S166 reporting
•    Tom Spender of the FSA and David Ellis of Addleshaw Goddard on retail enforcement from both the FSA viewpoint and and from the lawyers who advise regulated firms
•    Russell Warwick of the Prudential speaking on retail distribution
•    John Barrass of APCIMS speaking on MiFID2 and other EU developments
•    an interactive session for delegates and the panel on topical issues for compliance consultants
•    a report from Simon Collin, chairman of the Association, on the APCC plans for 2012 and beyond
•    the 2012 annual general meeting of the Association

The chairman's presentation slides are available here.  All the presentations and audio recordings from the event, where permission has been given by the speakers, are available to logged in users of the website.

The APCC held an event on 2 February for member firms only on the FSA's Business Risk Awareness Workshops and follow up assessments. 

BUSINESS RISK AWARENESS EVENT on 2 FEBRUARY
This event was an interactive session by Grahame Hinselwood and Nick Ross of the FSA on the FSA’s Business Risk Awareness Roadshows and follow up Proactive Regulatory Review.  Grahame and Nick provided a first hand insight into the format and content of the initial stage workshops and the different types of follow up assessments and the content of these assessments.  Every small retail firm is being invited to the roadshow events and the follow up assessments so it is key that consultants are fully aware of the purpose and scope of this FSA project. 

We are very pleased that the FSA is actively looking to assist consultancy firms in helping their clients prepare for these assessments.  The event included ample opportunity for consultants to ask questions regarding the assessments and to provide feedback to them.  More details of these roadshows can be found on the FSA website.

The event took place in the Schroders Auditorium at their offices in 31 Gresham Street. Registration for the event opened at 9:30 with the event starting at 10 am, the event finished at 12:30.

The event was available to delegates from member firms only and the cost was £48 per delegate (i.e. £40 plus VAT).

The slides from this event are now available to logged in APCC members.

The APCC intends to respond to the FSA's CP following the Mortgage Market Review.  At this stage it is gathering responses from members and other interested parties.

MORTGAGE MARKET REVIEW
The mortgage market review – CP31/11 , issued on 19th December as an early Christmas present to the industry, is alleged to be the biggest consultation the FSA have published.

It is wide ranging and has significant potential impact to both lenders and intermediaries, not to mention customers who will be impacted by the proposed changes.

The APCC would like to respond to this CP and we are interested in hearing from members in this respect. We believe it is in our interests to do so and will help continue to raise our profile within the FSA.

To this extent we would appreciate responses to the following questions so we can determine the best way forward:

• Are you interested in providing feedback to the Consultation?
• If the FSA were willing to attend a meeting where we could facilitate a Q&A and provide some feedback to them would you wish to attend (probably London based)?
• If the FSA were not willing to attend would you be interested in attending an APCC session to discuss the impact and gather feedback towards our response?
• Do you want to provide the APCC with responses to any of the specific questions from the consultation but not attend a meeting? (see list of questions for completion)
• Is your interest in a) intermediaries b) lenders c) both?

We recognise that it is often difficult for a wide ranging body such as the APCC to get a consensus on every aspect but we do hope to be able to get consensus on a lot of points and can then provide a split view on the other parts. It does, however, take a great deal of time and effort to co-ordinate and draft up and the earlier we start the better.

Please send in your response to the APCC by 27th January.