Compliance can often be the most difficult area to both understand and keep up-to-date with and we are now in the era of new regulation which offers a less prescriptive environment.

Regulatory rules require firms to monitor and regularly assess the adequacy and effectiveness of their compliance procedures and take action to address any deficiencies.

An internal compliance assessment based on the internal audits required by many regulators can improve efficiency and prove to be very cost-effective.

Although the responsibility for this rests with a firm’s compliance officer and senior management, Laven Partners regularly provides assistance by undertaking reviews of compliance procedures and reporting our findings including recommendations to senior management. Once complete, we can then assist you in implementing any remedial action needed to bring about the relevant changes which may be advisable.

Whether you are regulated by the FSA or another authority, an internal compliance assessment from Laven Partners will illustrate where you are compliant and where you have areas which you need to improve. This is a bespoke assessment, specifically for your business, unlike many generic plans offered by other service providers and will enable you to become and remain compliant.

The assessment will provide you with:

• Evidence of compliant practice for the benefit of senior management;
• Useful and practical suggestions for greater efficiency;
• A clear and specific action plan to bring deficient areas up to speed;
• An internal compliance assessment certificate to present to your clients as part of their due diligence assessments.

Our internal compliance assessments are also ideal prior to any Arrow II assessments by the FSA. Firms are increasingly interested in SAS 70 audits and, like SAS 70, our internal compliance assessment is a useful method for management to obtain information about an organisation’s internal controls. However unlike SAS 70 Type 1 where an auditor passes an opinion without verification, our assessment is independent and based on regulations and often much deeper thus providing an ideal alternative for firms wishing to convey a message of thorough business management to investors.