Why comply?

Financial firms may know only too well what it is like when a supervision visit is due the next day. The compliance officer has spent the last few weeks checking files, collating what is hoped to be relevant information, briefing colleagues, trying to ensure everything is covered. Of course, the officer is keen to convey the impression that no special effort has been made. The team, however, do not look very closely at the dealing records that have been so meticulously checked. Instead, infuriatingly, they pursue some details which the compliance officer did not really see as being key. What is the result? How does the firm react? What is the end result for consumers and the market? Is this the ‘regulation game’, or can something more meaningful be seen?