One
in three City-based employees working for financial services firms has received
no training to help them comply with Financial Services Authority (FSA)
regulations introduced last year.
According
to the research by training consultant Wide Learning, half of these employees say
they don’t expect to be trained within the next six months.
The
FSA regulations are designed to ensure companies comply with the Financial
Services and Markets Act which came into force on 1 December, 2001 and requires
that firms ensure their employees are properly qualified and trained.
However
six out of 10 staff questioned had not been formally tested on key compliance
issues and one in three were not even aware that the FSA was the sole regulator
of their organisation.
Alan
Calder, chief executive of Wide Learning said the results came as no surprise: “It
mirrors results we’ve been getting from the coalface for some time. Even cynics
must acknowledge that the survey reflects a general perception that the market
is still not taking the risk seriously enough.”
The
poll of 130 financial services staff also reveals that more than half of the
respondents didn’t know when the FSA regime came into force and one in three
were unable to name their money laundering reporting officer (MLRO).
Almost
three-quarters of those surveyed claimed to know who was responsible for
complying with the new rules within their organisation, yet only a quarter were
aware that FSA regulations dictate that all financial services employees have
some degree of individual responsibility.
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