The hidden costs of compliance

A useful TPA piece on the Financial Conduct Authority written by a professional working in the City of London who wishes to remain anonymous. The whole piece is well worth reading.

The hidden costs of compliance

The TaxPayers’ Alliance has done some fantastic work on the costs that regulators are placing on businesses around the country and the burden this places on us employees who are forced to spend our time getting cosy with all the various regulations imposed upon us.

The FCA is the most notorious example in my industry of a regulator that keeps piling new initiatives and regulations onto our businesses. It routinely goes beyond its remit and implements new regulations which take staff away from their productive day jobs and turn our attention to the latest fad that the FCA wants us to adopt.

Usually, the regulation is hidden behind an innocent sounding title, but the connection to the core goal of “financial conduct” is spurious at best, or covered by a myriad of other regulators which already give us enough grief as it is.

The FCA’s non-financial misconduct regulation is one of the most obvious examples of where it has overreached, with the regulator now acting as a social crusader rather than a financial regulator. Non-financial misconduct includes behaviour that is not clearly financial in nature, such as bullying, harassment and violence.

They walk among us

Pair arrested after police called to barbecue fire in Ilkeston flat

A cordon remained in place in Burns Street on Friday morning (August 21), more than 16 hours after fire crews were first called out at 4.40am the previous day.

A police statement said: "At the scene, a man and a woman, both in their 30s, were arrested on suspicion of arson and remain in police custody...

Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service has now issued a statement which said: "A joint police and fire investigation into a flat fire in Ilkeston has concluded the most likely cause to be the deliberate ignition of a barbecue on soft furnishings.

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Muted Enthusiasm

‘God help us all’: Readers react to Harry and Meghan’s return to the UK

The Telegraph revealed on Wednesday evening that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were planning to move back to Britain.

Has Meghan given up the absurdly expensive jam business? 

Will Harry carry on suing people?

So many questions. 

Meanwhile there is a thunderstorm rumbling around our little patch of Derbyshire. It may be an omen.

Missiles and Hairstyles

North Korea launches about 10 short-range ballistic missiles

North Korea launched about 10 short-range ballistic missiles towards the waters off the country’s east coast on Thursday, South Korea’s military said on Thursday.

This comes just a day after Pyongyang dismissed US scaling back a major military exercise with South Korea.

The missiles were launched towards waters off North Korea’s east coast, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said...

North Korea has frequently reacted to joint US-South Korea military drills with weapons tests and strong rhetoric. Pyongyang views the exercises as preparations for an attack and says they justify strengthening its nuclear capabilities. Washington and Seoul maintain that the training is purely defensive.


"Pyongyang views the exercises as preparations for an attack" - or possibly not. Aggressive military display towards South Korea has been a key element of North Korean foreign policy since the days of
Kim Jong Il. Military activity in the South gives North Korea an opportunity to emphasise that policy to its own citizens by setting off a few photo op missiles. 

A constant and conspicuously aggressive military posture towards South Korea seems intended to justify the extremely harsh treatment handed out to North Korean citizens whenever they are detected showing an overt interest in South Korean lifestyles, freedoms and prosperity. Music, films, hairstyles are all double plus ungood.

Toxic Dumps

Andy Burnham vows to clear-up 'toxic dumps' in new drive to tackle illegal waste

Andy Burnham has announced a crackdown on the criminal gangs profiting from illegal waste.

The prime minister intends to empower more police officers to seize cash, cars and houses from criminals profiting from the illegal waste sites.

Fines will be extended from their current maximum of £300 up to £5,000 and those responsible could face tougher sanctions like prosecution and imprisonment.

AI-powered drones will also be used to detect illegal activity as it happens.

Andrew Barnum certainly has a showman's way with words. 'Toxic dumps' for example, the words are bound to kick off a few thoughts about certain areas of the UK which are not what they could be in these feckless times. Places we wouldn't include in a morning stroll, areas where decent coffee shops are notably thin on the ground.

Apart from this, what will those AI-powered crackdown drones discover and which areas will their operators use them to cover? Their use does suggest a certain amount of existing knowledge about likely locations. 

Avoiding the obvious - except when not in office

PM vows to help households through 'really hard' times as inflation jumps higher

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to do what he can to help Britons through “really hard” times as cost pressures mount after figures showed inflation surging to a four-month high and forecasts for more pain ahead.

Tories say households could save £540 a year by scrapping net zero

The Conservatives have said that households could save about £540 a year after 2030 if net zero regulations are scrapped with a commitment to make energy as cheap as possible.