Compliance Outsourcing & Support
Regulation and compliance have been around since the Romans began regulating societies.
It has definitely intensified since then and financial organisations are now obligated to adhere to strict guidelines to avoid potential litigation and remain operational. In today’s financial services industry nothing could be more important to the success and continuation of the business than to ensure that firms stay on the right side of their relevant regulations.
With ever-increasing change and the regulatory risk involved, many firms spend significant time and resources tracking and analysing regulatory change and finding suitably skilled staff, all adding up to increased pressure on budgets. Compliance to regulations is proving to be one of the biggest challenges firms face today.
As a result, and in order to prevent potential compliance issues, organisations turn to FAI for specialised consulting to ensure that compliance is at the core of their business.
Customer assurance
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Customers need assurance that their investments and trading activities are being monitored against fraud or misuse of funds. Moreover, a customer/investor will most likely be attracted to engage in an organisation that provides this assurance.
Risk mitigation
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Protection against litigation
Time management & reporting
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Following compliance procedures and ensuring crucial regulatory reporting requirements are duly completed and filed
Internal Audit Services
An effective internal audit requires a diversity of skills that many companies find difficult to source and retain. Increasing numbers of companies are leveraging the benefits of outsourcing to support their corporate governance and risk management requirements.
The internal audit’s objective is fundamentally assurance, supporting and helping embed a culture of risk awareness in a firm. Looking at the past and present to provide assurance that all activities are being carried out in accordance with the written policy, procedure and relevant regulations.
FAI Comply assists clients by providing a fully outsourced service that executes a full-scope, risk-focused internal audit plan with a designated in-house contact, who reports to the board of director of our clients. This includes:
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Implementing an internal audit charter with the board
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Implementing a risk-based internal audit plan
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Evaluating and contributing to the improvement of governance, risk management, and regulatory control processes using a systematic and disciplined approach
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Periodic reporting to senior management and the board
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Providing ongoing support services
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Prepare the annual report of the internal auditor for submission to CySEC
Prudential Reporting
The Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process (ICAAP) is an overall valuation of the risks a financial institution faces, how they intend to mitigate those risks and how much current and future capital is needed having considered other mitigating factors.
In Cyprus, the ICAAP is a requirement of every CIF and is evaluated by CySEC using their Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP). The onus is therefore on the institution to demonstrate that its ICAAP is comprehensive and adequate to the nature of risks posed by the firm’s specific business activities and operating environment.
The implementation of an ICAAP is not rooted exclusively in supervisory considerations; rather it should be in the interest of all stakeholders to ensure a viable risk position with emphasis on the importance of capital management. In particular, it is important to detect developments which may endanger the financial institution as early as possible in order to enable suitable countermeasures. For larger or more complex institutions, this may mean developing an appropriately detailed and rigorous stress and scenario testing framework.
In addition to the ICAAP, the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD IV) brings in a new EU-wide supervisory framework for Common Reporting (CoRep). Financial institutions are therefore subject to ongoing capital adequacy requirements, such as monitoring and assessing their capital adequacy on a continuing basis as well as preparing and submitting their capital adequacy reports.
What can FAI Comply do for your business?
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Identify and assess all material risks of the firm, and implement controls to mitigate such risks
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Identify the amount and quality of internal capital in relation to risk profile, strategies and business plan, and create a proposal for capital allocation
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Preparation and design of ICAAP, including implementation and documentation, in line with the nature, scale and complexity of the firm’s activities
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ICAAP follow-up through supervisory review and evaluation process of CySEC
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Advise in relation to CRD IV
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Preparation of CRD IV CoRep Forms (i.e. capital adequacy reports)
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Preparation of Pillar III Disclosures
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Provision of ICAAP, CRD IV and other regulatory requirements training to relevant employees and senior management
Understanding your needs
At FAI Comply, we tailor each package to suit our clients’ needs, from providing training, support and guidance, to overseeing each and every function and being fully outsourced. This is done through our consulting process, which involves gaining a deep understanding of our client’s needs and goals. From investment firms, payment services providers, straight-through processing models and complex market makers, to portfolio management and investment advice, we are able to put in place and oversee all the necessary requirements of the regulator.