§ Mr. FlightTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many financial services companies have had compliance visits; and what has been the average frequency of compliance visits in the last 12 months; [110386]
(2) how many financial services companies have been eligible for compliance visits by an SRO regulator in the last 12 months. [110385]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonIMRO, the PIA and the SFA all adopt a risk-based approach to deciding which firms to visit, in order to target their resources efficiently.
The total number of firms regulated by these SROs at 31 December 1999 was 6,760. (Some firms are regulated by more than on SRO). Any of them would have been eligible to receive a visit if it were thought to be required.
During the calendar year 1999 the number of routine periodic visits paid to SRO-regulated firms was 2,396.
The frequency of periodic inspection visits to individual regulated firms is decided by each SRO, taking into account the risk profile of the firm.