Strategi Compliance has published its top tips for those seeking to improve their overall regulatory compliance.
In a statement, the firm says that when it comes to disclosure, most of the FAPs its worked with are doing a good job – but could improve by having a better process for identifying if a complaint has not been resolved within two working days.
The firm recommends advisory firms take a look at their process to identify whether they can shorten disclosures with more information being included in the publicly available version.
“This will present a concise and professional approach to clients,” states the firm.
On the issue of complaints, it says most of the FAPs have done a good job developing and documenting their complaints policy, but says some could improve by undertaking staff training to help them identify and record complaints.
Strategi Compliance also says governance could be improved by having a board / directors competency matrix to identify training gaps, and recommends directors attend a governance course.
The FMA considers record keeping to be critical, as it helps FAPs demonstrate compliance…
“All board members and directors need to have the competence knowledge and skill to govern a licensed entity,” states Strategi Compliance.
“They need to know the regulatory obligations and good conduct expectations and be able to demonstrate they know the current status of their business and how they are driving improvements.”
The FMA considers record keeping to be critical, as it helps FAPs demonstrate compliance. Strategy Compliance staff are seeing a wide variance in the compliance status from one business to another.
“About 25 per cent of those we have reviewed would be regarded as being fully compliant, but still with some areas for improvement,” states the firm. “The remainder still have some way to go. However, we appreciate this is a journey.”