The payback conference at the National Motorbike Museum, Birmingham was well attended and was generally appreciated by all attendees. Most sectors had a presence of their supervisory bodies. HMRC gave a presentation on risk assessment as well as having advisors on hand to answer queries.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was on hand for the estate agency market while representatives from the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) and The Law Society were on hand for the legal market. The Accountancy sector was represented by a number of supervisors such as the ACCA, ICB & CIPFA. For the first time there were also displays from a number of firms who had support services for the regulated firm. There was a large number representing electronic verification services.
There were a number of excellent ‘breakout’ sessions giving a good insight into law enforcement as well as supervisors stating their own purpose and problems. The highlight of the day had to be the new head of the SRA who stated that he had a number of problems in his sector to address, for example, who files a SAR on a transaction emanating from a solicitors client’s account? Answer, no one. When questioned directly regarding his concerns over solicitors acting in a criminal or improper manner, he replied, “I do not believe that solicitors are any worse than any other sector”. This did cause a titter amongst the audience.
These events are worth attending especially for the smaller business, giving you a chance to network and discuss concerns with your peers, supervisors and law enforcement.
Visit the BTC website for compliance help and support for firms in the regulated sector.
