Every single firm, no matter how big or small, has to adhere to all the latest regulations, requirements and laws. However, many small-sized firms struggle with meeting their compliance obligations, as they lack sufficient resources to properly manage this area.
The Hong Kong Securities regulator - The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has suspended the licence of a former licensed representative of Mason Securities Limited (MSL), previously known as GuocoCapital Limited, for misconduct, for 12 months from 28 October 2020 for failing to obtain approval to maintain a securities trading account with an external brokerage, and trading on that account without permission, approval and therefore breaching Mason Securities Personal Account Dealing policy. You can read more on that here.
Personal Account Dealing is an area of inherent risk for any firm in the financial sector. In many cases, employees have the potential to make personal profit from inside information or other information that they became aware of in their professional capacity.
The FCA have been highlighting that firms are failing to implement various recommendations in their PAD policies and controls to meet regulatory requirements and avoid market abuse. In order to prevent personal account dealing, firms should ensure preparation for the FCA’s requirements.
The year has begun, and as a compliance officer, you are probably wondering how to face the challenges of 2020. To help compliance officers the new Thomson Reuters report “10 Things Compliance Officers Need to Do in 2020” was released last week in a webinar, when Susannah Hammond, Senior Regulatory Expert for TR explained the challenges and changes for organizations of all sizes.
