5 CPD
Course Description
Investment firms shall establish and maintain a permanent and effective compliance function which operates independently and which has, among other, the responsibilities (a) to monitor on a permanent basis and to assess, on a regular basis, the adequacy and effectiveness of the measures, policies and procedures put in place and the actions taken to address any deficiencies in the firm’s compliance with its obligations, (b) to advise and assist the relevant persons responsible for carrying out investment services and activities to comply with the firm’s obligations under Directive 2014/65/EU, (c) to report to the management body, on at least an annual basis, on the implementation and effectiveness of the overall control environment for investment services and activities, on the risks that have been identified and on the complaints-handling reporting as well as remedies undertaken or to be undertaken, (d) to monitor the operations of the complaints-handling process and consider complaints as a source of relevant information in the context of its general monitoring responsibilities.
In order to enable the compliance function to discharge its responsibilities properly and independently, investment firms shall ensure that the compliance function has the necessary authority, resources, expertise and access to all relevant information.
While senior management is responsible for establishing an appropriate compliance organisation and for monitoring the effectiveness of the organisation that has been implemented, the tasks performed by the compliance function should be carried out independently from senior management and other units of the Investment Firm.
Where senior management deviates from important recommendations or assessments issued by the compliance function, the compliance officer should document this accordingly and present it in the compliance reports, and if deemed necessary, inform CySEC the soonest possible.
This course explains the duties and responsibilities as well as the organisational requirements of the Regulatory Compliance Function. It also explains competent authority reviews of the compliance function. In addition, it refers to the provisions of the legislation relevant to the role, responsibilities and organisational requirements of the Regulatory Compliance Function.
The compliance function has multiple duties and responsibilities aiming to protect the investment firm from potential breaches and violations of relevant legislation as well as to maintain operational integrity.
A vital responsibility of the Compliance function is to monitor on an ongoing basis compliance with regulations and assess the adequacy and effectiveness of the investment firm’s measures, policies and procedures. Also, the compliance function shall establish a risk-based monitoring programme on the basis of its compliance risk assessment to determine its priorities and the focus of the monitoring, advisory and assistance activities.
The effectiveness of the compliance function depends on a number of factors which the investment firm should pay great attention. This course explains and analyses these factors, the organisational requirements of the compliance function.
In addition, this course analyses, among others, the allocation of appropriate human and other resources, the requirement of the compliance function to have access to all relevant database and records as well as the skills, knowledge, expertise and authority of the compliance function.
Finally, this course explains competent authority reviews of the compliance function. It explains how the competent authority reviews how Investment Firms plan to meet, implement and maintain the applicable compliance function requirements. This applies in the context of the authorisation process as well as following a risk-based approach, in the course of ongoing supervision.
The competent authority assesses, among others, whether an Investment Firm’s compliance function is adequately resourced and organized and whether adequate reporting lines have been established.
Topics covered
The course is split into the following sections:
Section 1: Relevant legislations
- Article 17(2) of the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law of 2017
- Article (22) of MiFID II Delegated Regulation 565/2017
Section 2: Responsibilities of the compliance function
- Introduction
- Compliance risk assessment
- Monitoring obligations of the compliance function
- Use of the Compliance risk-assessment to determine the Compliance monitoring program – establish priorities
- Tools and methodologies
- Other monitoring obligations
- Access to customer complaints and use these in the monitoring program
- Reporting obligations of the compliance function
- Mandatory compliance reports
- Content of the Compliance Officer annual report
- Proportionality principle regarding compliance function and the complaints management function
- Reporting lines
- Submission of the annual Compliance report
- Advisory and assistance obligations of the compliance function
- Day-to-day assistance for staff and management – Training
- Development of the relevant policies and procedures
- Basic Principles of the Compliance Function
- Summary of the role and responsibilities of the Compliance function
- The crucial role of the Regulatory Compliance Function
Section 3: Organisational requirements of the compliance function
- Relevant Legislation
- Effectiveness of the compliance function
- Allocation of appropriate human and other resources
- Access to all relevant database and records
- Skills, knowledge, expertise and authority of the compliance function
- Relevant Legislation
- Permanence of the compliance function
- Independence of the compliance function
- Proportionality with regard to the effectiveness of the compliance function
- Proportionality criteria
- Combining the compliance function with other internal control functions
- Outsourcing of the compliance function
Section 4: Competent authority review of the compliance function
- Review of the compliance function by the competent authorities
- Is the compliance function adequately resourced and organised?
- Have adequate reporting lines been established?
- Are the measures implemented by the Investment Firm for the compliance function adequate and does the compliance function fulfils its responsibilities appropriately?
- Assessment of the qualifications of the compliance officer
- Key Aspects of a Competent Authority Review
- Common deficiencies and good practices identified by CySEC
Course Duration:
This course may take up to 5 hours to be completed. However, actual study time differs as each learner uses their own training pace.
The course is addressed to:
This course is addressed to all individuals who are involved in Investment Firms (forex, brokers, etc) and funds such as:
- Executive Directors, Non-executive directors, Senior Managers, Compliance Officers, Risk Managers, Product Managers, Portfolio Managers, Investment Advisors, Dealers, Marketing Managers and in general employees of investment firms and funds.
- Internal Auditors
- Consultants
It is also suitable to professionals pursuing CPD for the renewal of CySEC Certificate (CySEC Basic and CySEC Advance Certificate) or other relevant professional certificates in other jurisdictions.
Training Method
The course is offered fully online using a self-paced approach. The learning units consist of power point presentations. Learners may start, stop and resume their training at any time.
At the end of the course, participants take a Quiz to complete the course and earn a Certificate of Completion once the Quiz has been passed successfully.
Accreditation and CPD Recognition
The course may be accredited by regulators and other bodies for 5 CPD Units that require CPD training in financial regulation.
Eligibility criteria and CPD Units are verified directly by your association or other bodies in which you hold membership.
Registration and Access
To register to this course, click on the Take this course button to pay online and receive your access instantly. If you are purchasing this course on behalf of others, please be advised that you will need to create or use their personal profile before finalizing your payment.
Access to the course is valid for 90 days.
If you wish to receive an invoice instead of paying online, please Contact us by email. Talk to us for our special Corporate Group rates.
Instructor
George Papanicolaou has more than 20-years experience in the Financial industry. He worked for several years in managerial positions as area Manager, Head of Brokerage, Compliance Officer, Anti Money Laundering Officer, General Manager and Executive Director in Cypriot Investment Firms as well as Managing Director of GP GLOBAL LTD offering consulting services and training courses to Investment Firms, focuses in Internal Audit, compliance & AML issues. He offered numerous courses/seminars both in Cyprus and abroad in Investment Firms Law as well as in Compliance & Anti Money Laundering. George Papanicolaou is also a Chairman of a Nomination Committee in a company listed in the Oslo Stock Exchange.
George Papanicolaou holds a BSc in Electronic Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin (USA), an MBA with specialization in Finance from Leicester University (UK) and a Postgraduate Certificate in the Mechanics of Risk Management from Middlesex University (UK).
He also holds an ICA International Diploma in Anti Money Laundering from the International Compliance Association and the University of Manchester, as well as an Advance and Money Laundering certificate from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission for the provision of investment services/activities.
He is a Member of the AML and Compliance Committee of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus (ICPAC), Fellow of the International Compliance Association (FICA), Mentor of ICA new students, member of the Cyprus Institute of Internal Auditors and the first Network chair for Cyprus of the International Compliance association.
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