016: Compliance and the FCA - with Roland Romata

On today's episode, we’re talking to Roland Romata of RR Compliance Associates and partner to Boston Tullis. Roland has over 10 years’ experience working in compliance, initially in the SRA field before moving to FCA regulated sectors. Roland’s focus and passion is in designing and developing bespoke compliance practices for firms using automated technology and IT solutions to drive resource requirements for efficient compliance practices. LEARNING OBJECTIVES: The FCA have made a number of changes to their rules which should be checked and implemented to firms in the industry if they haven’t done so already. Some firms may find it difficult to implement the FCA’s new support packages and measures depending on the line of product the brokers offer to the customers – it’s important to access your customers profiles and be mindful who the support packages relate to. Firms need to be mindful of the financial implication of the new support packages and measures as well as the affordability. It doesn’t pose to be a simple transition but one that firms should be considering across the sector. Being compliant with all of the rules that have been in place prior to the pandemic is as important as remaining compliant with the customer’s best interests. Brokers and firms in the industry should focus on accessing their risk. Firms really need to look at what type of data is being made available to individuals when they work from home from a Data Protection front. BEST MOMENTS: ‘’…The FDA has made a good number of publications, created a dedicated webpage for businesses as well as consumers on their website, and firms are able to sign up to covid-19 related newsletters as well. We would encourage firms to do so if they haven't done it yet, as there are a lot of changes are happening and support being put forth by the FCA and they don't follow the normal consultation root of being a publication of feedback.’’ ‘’…to give a practical consideration - individuals with car insurance, some people may pay additional premium because they use their car for work purposes. Now naturally, if individuals don't travel to have face to face meetings or to the office, then that may mean some reduction in their premium. The FCA would expect firms to have that flexibility in place now and offer the possibility to policyholders to reduce the premium by adjusting the risk that they present to the insurer currently.’’ ‘’…What we have seen our end is an increased request from firms to do an informal review of their arrangements as it stands at the moment. What this typically includes is to look at the risk assessment as it is at the moment, make sure it includes everything, and then review some of the associated processes to make sure it has the right level of flexibility to remain compliant with the current decentralised workforce.’’ ‘’It really is down to risk management, knowing what's happening within the business and having that management information coming to the board of directors or the individuals to satisfy themselves that yes, everything is happening the right way… so eliminating stress as much as possible is pretty much down to making sure everything is still working for the customer, we're doing the absolute best we can and if there is anything unusual in terms of what we do compared to what we used to, to have that thoroughly documented.’’ RESOURCES: R&R Compliance Associates Website: https://www.rrcompliance.com/ ABOUT THE HOST Sarah Myerscough is the Sales and Marketing Director of Boston Tullis Group. The founder of The Insurance Brokers Podcast, she brings a wealth of marketing experience and a fresh perspective on marketing in the insurance sector. Boston Tullis works with insurance brokers to offer solutions to business development ceilings, particularly in the rapidly developing fields of video marketing and thought leadership. If you would like Sarah to help you develop an integrated marketing strategy, using state of the art con