Recently, PM May’s legislative agenda, as outlined in a ‘slimmed down’ Queen’s Speech, reflects compromises necessary to secure parliamentary backing. The main opposition party leader Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed he will be voting against it. But May only needs a straightforward majority to see the legislative agenda through, so long as the DUP provides its support, the vote should pass. The DUP has said it will vote in favour, whilst negotiations on formalising the ‘supply and confidence’ arrangement continue. The DUP has described the Downing Street negotiators as being “chaotic”. However, with DUP sources saying the deal is 95% done, the chances of a deal being done by next Thursday are cited as being “very good” by a DUP senior lawmaker. Note that the vote on Queen’s Speech will take place on Thursday 29th.

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Kathryn Lane, Livy Paige, and Lily Owsley (Olympic gold medal winner 2016) gave us a unique insight into the passion, drive and determination required to make it to the top. What are the hurdles negotiated along the way? What comes next after achieving the pinnacle of athletic endeavor? What is the pathway to success?

Throughout Investec’s 6 years of sponsorship of the England & GB Women’s Hockey team, we have enjoyed many incredible sporting moments with the squad. Our two ambassadors Maddie Hinch and Alex Danson are key to driving women’s hockey from grassroots to elite level in the UK. We’re proud to support such a tenacious team who share our core values and philosophies. 

Which is why we’d like to remind you to make sure you’re undertaking your due diligence on customers and suppliers, including full checks as well as providing us with full and accurate information. This will help us make sure that we can process your finance proposals as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Some examples of best practice include:

• Correct date of birth
• Permission to search individuals if applicable
• Certificate of acceptances (funder delivery notes) must be signed by the end customer after the asset is delivered
• Completion of full KYC checks to reduce the risk of fraud. Google offers a raft of useful information to do your background checks and is one of the most valuable resources that we use at Investec
• Financial information must be fully completed on the finance agreement before an end user customer executes the agreement

Failure to adhere to best practice will in some instances mean that your brokerage will be liable to costs under your trading agreement. This can be avoided through proper due diligence and through maintaining the high standards of practices we expect from you.

If you’re ever unsure about a customer or supplier and would like further guidance, our experienced financial crime team can work with you to help identify any discrepancies and issues.

Guarding against this is not just about protecting the business: it’s a regulatory requirement, with serious potential consequences for firms that fall short. The FCA has the power to impose criminal civil and regulatory sanctions for those that do, from instituting prosecutions to levying fines or simply issuing warnings. Even a simple statement could have highly damaging consequences.

Larger firms may even find themselves winning the attention of the US Justice or Treasury departments: if they have a license in the US, they are in the ambit of American regulators, and there have been some notorious recent cases of UK businesses reaching costly settlements to avoid full prosecution.

Amongst brokers, firms lending from their own books – and therefore entering into regulated credit agreements – have the biggest regulatory obligations. They are subject directly to the Money Laundering Regulations and, as they make their own collections, are responsible for detecting and resolving attempted financial crime throughout the lifetime of credit agreements.

These firms must implement adequate systems and controls, from on-boarding and Know Your Customer processes for new customers, through to anti-fraud training for staff, monitoring and robust data security practices.

Smaller brokerages, especially firms that do not lend from their own book but simply introduce borrowers to credit providers, have more legal responsibilities to address potential financial crime than they might realise.

The FCA believes that these firms should – subject to the scale and nature of their business model – consider emulating the controls required of their regulated peers. Because they work in the regulated sector, they are subject to the Proceeds of Crime Act and the Terrorism Act, even if they are not subject to the strictures of the Money Laundering Regulations (MLR). They must also report to the National Crime Agency any knowledge of or suspicion of a person engaged in laundering money or assisting in terrorism.

Many firms in this position choose to act as though they were subject to the MLR, with some larger businesses appointing a Money Laundering Reporting Officer.

Even for firms that are regulated by the FCA, it does not impose a specific approach and allows businesses themselves to decide how best to meet their obligations. Ongoing monitoring is, however, always important, including keeping data on customers up to date and screening regularly for sanctions. For smaller firms this can be done manually; bigger businesses with thousands of clients may need something more automated and there are third-party providers who provide that service.

Whatever the size of your business, the way you achieve compliance is up to you. But the FCA’s flexibility based on size and business model is not a license to race for the bottom: it is ready and willing to take action against firms that fall short.

Thank you for your continued support which has contributed hugely to our success in these awards. It is fantastic for our underwriting team and wider asset finance staff to be acknowledged in this way.

This year we’ve worked hard to improve our service levels and maintain a swift average underwriting time of 2 1/2 hours. This has been achieved by improving our auto decision engine, as well as investing in a KYC data platform which gives us real time intelligence on SMEs, ensuring we make responsible lending decisions and speed up the acceptance process.

How can I identify vulnerability?

A quick mental health capacity test can help identify vulnerable customers. Staff should consider whether a customer appears to understand what is being discussed, or whether there are signs of confusion. Repetitious questions, failures in logic and signs of anxiety such as emotional outbursts or shortness of breath could all point to a vulnerable person.

A simple five-step process can ensure that customers who have disclosed a problem are treated fairly – the “TEXAS” method:

• Thank them.
• Explain how information on their mental health status will be used.
• Obtain explicit consent for that information to be recorded – this is a legal requirement.
• Ask them three key questions:
• Does your mental health problem make it difficult for you to repay your debt? If so, how?
• Does your mental health problem affect your ability to deal or communicate with us? If so, how?
• Does anyone need to help you manage your finances, such as a carer or relative? If so, how?
• Signpost them to help appropriate to their situation, including mental health specialists.

It is important to keep calm, get to the key facts, listen and make adjustments where possible. Creditors and other FCA-registered businesses are not expected to “rescue” customers, but to ensure that they are treated fairly.

What should my business be thinking about?

Any business dealing with customers regulated under the Consumer Credit Act is obliged to have policies in place for identifying and dealing with vulnerable customers. This means any firm facing individual consumers, sole traders or partnerships with fewer than four partners.

Brokers also lending from their own book are doubly obliged, both as introducers and as providers of finance who conduct their own collections and thus manage the entirety of the customer relationship during the life of an arrangement.

While regulated firms are obliged to have policies in place, we believe that it is essential for all brokerage firms to be aware of potential customer vulnerability at every stage of the deal lifecycle. It is an important factor that could affect any one of their customers and it is vital for the industry at large that all firms are sensitive about it.

A lot of brokers are not sufficiently aware of their obligations but, thankfully, there are many resources available to help them address the four key problem areas identified by the FCA for financial services in general: policy, systems, products and implementation.

In addition to specific FCA papers and updates on vulnerability, firms can also refer to its Consumer Credit Handbook (https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/CONC.pdf), known in the industry as CONC.

In addition to the written resources available, the Financing & Leasing Association offers standard courses for businesses keen to brush up on their responsibilities. This will be sufficient for many finance firms, but the Money Advice Trust also provides bespoke in-house training.

When arranging training it is essential to ensure that staff are being given the right advice for their function: while everyone is looking for the same indicators, the experience will be different for people in different roles: field sales staff looking for new business and dealing with people face-to-face will have not have the same experience as customer liaison staff working with customers by phone.

The FCA measures success in 10 key areas. These include consistency, staff awareness, front-line staff training, an audit of vulnerability policy and systems, ongoing evaluation, flexibility, efficiency, simplicity, specialist training and appointments and good information handling.

The consequences of getting this wrong are serious: the FCA will always act when it believes customers are being put at risk. But regardless of the regulatory perspective, having protocols in place for the fair treatment of vulnerable people is simple good business practice, supporting firms’ standing amongst peers and customers alike.

The FLA and UK Cards Association have just launched their latest guide in assisting vulnerable customers in debt collection. For the latest update on Vulnerability click here.

Thank you for your continued support to help us achieve these accolades. It is fantastic for our market leading service, commitment and focus to be acknowledged so thank you for voting for us!