Complaints Policy

Complaints   

We are required to have effective and transparent written complaints management policies and internal procedures in place for the prompt and reasonable handling of FCA related complaints (both written and oral). We must also refer eligible complainants to the availability of such procedures at (or immediately after) the point of sale. These procedures must ensure that a complaint may be made free of charge. We must also take reasonable steps to ensure compliance with these procedures, including making sure all personnel are aware of the procedures and their duty to comply with them.   

As a firm, we are required to appoint an individual with the appropriate seniority to undertake oversight of compliance with the complaints process. In the event that this individual were involved with the complaint, a suitable replacement would be appointed. The complaints officer does not necessarily have to be our compliance officer.   

Eligible complainants are individuals and businesses that fall in the following groups:   

• A consumer – A person acting outside of his/her trade or profession. This would seem to exclude a self-employed person buying financial services for his/her small business, but he/she is likely to fall into the next category.   
• A micro enterprise – A business that employs fewer than 10 people and has an annual turnover or annual balance sheet not exceeding €2 million when the complaint is made (although payment services firms have slightly different rules). This is denominated in euros because it is based on a European requirement.   
• A charity with an annual income of less than £1 million when the complaint is made.   
• A trustee of a trust that has a net asset value of less than £1 million when the complaint is made.   

The FCA established the FOS as an independent dispute resolution scheme. The service is aimed at resolving disputes as an informal alternative to the courts. The service is free to customers and can investigate complaints and order restitution up to a maximum of £150,000. However, customers are expected to ask regulated businesses to try to resolve all complaints before they refer them to the FOS. The jurisdiction timeframes of the FOS are set out in FCA rule DISP 2.8.   

The FOS can be contacted at:   

The Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, Harbour Exchange Square, London, E14 9SR.  Tel: 0800 023 4567 or 0300 123 9123 www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

We are required to provide information about the FOS, including its website address, on our website.   

All complaints (irrespective of the client type) are required under FCA rules to be dealt with on a prompt and fair basis, including those complaints falling within the jurisdiction of the FOS. A record  of all complaints received should be logged in the complaints register, but only those falling within the jurisdiction of the FOS need to be provided with the FOS leaflet.   

Definition of a Complaint    

The FCA defines a complaint as any oral or written expression of dissatisfaction, whether justified or not, from or on behalf of, a person about the provision of, or failure to provide, a financial service or a redress determination, which:   

• Alleges that the complainant has suffered (or may suffer) financial loss, material distress or material inconvenience.   
• Relates to an activity of that respondent, or of any other respondent with whom that respondent has some connection in marketing or providing financial services or products, which comes under the jurisdiction of the FOS.   

We regard financial loss as including a consequential or prospective loss, not just an actual loss. Material distress or inconvenience is harder to define and depends the circumstances of the complaint. If in doubt, please refer the matter to the compliance officer or complaints officer.   

Receipt and Investigation of a Complaint   

From 30 June 2016, a complaint can be resolved, through means of a verbal or written acceptance by the complainant, by close of business on the third business day following the day on which it is received, without full application of the following requirements. Specifically, the time limits and forwarding rules.   

Where such an approach is applied, we are required to give the complainant details of the process to be followed when handling a complaint. Such details will include information about our complaints management policy and the contact details for the complaints-management function (which may be the compliance officer). This information will be provided to clients or potential clients on request, or when acknowledging a complaint.   

We must also issue a summary resolution communication and include such complaints in our reporting to the FCA. The summary resolution communication needs to include:   

• Reference to the fact that the complainant has made a complaint and that we now consider the complaint to have been resolved. 
• A statement that if the complainant subsequently decides that he/she is dissatisfied with the resolution of the complaint, he/she may be able to refer the complaint to the FOS.   
• An indication whether or not the respondent consents to waive the relevant time limits in DISP 2.8.2R or DISP 2.8.7R by including the appropriate wording set out in DISP 1 Annex 3R.   
• The website address of the FOS.   
• Reference to the availability of further information on the website of the FOS.   
• Regardless of whether a complaint is resolved within three days, we are still required to adequately document and include such instances within the appropriate report to the regulator.   
• When a complaint cannot be resolved within the three-day allowance, the arrangements for ensuring that all client complaints are properly dealt with are as follows.   
• Receipt and investigation of a complaint:   
• On receipt, all complaints or expressions of dissatisfaction capable of becoming a complaint (both written and oral) must be notified to the appropriate individual immediately. A prompt written acknowledgement providing early reassurance that we have received a complaint must be sent to the complainant.   
• The investigation will be undertaken in a competent, diligent and impartial manner. Additional information will be obtained as necessary by the appropriate individual unless he/she is the subject of the complaint (in which case the investigation will be carried out by another member of the senior management team). We are required to assess the subject matter of the complaint, whether it should be upheld, what remedial action or redress may be appropriate, and whether we have reasonable grounds to be satisfied that another party may be solely or jointly responsible for the issue.   
• The appropriate individual will promptly contact the complainant in writing by acknowledging the complaint, setting out our understanding of its nature and noting the name and title of the person investigating the complaint.   
• Thereafter the appropriate individual will keep the complainant informed of the progress being made in the complaint’s resolution.   
• Final or other response within eight weeks.

By the end of eight weeks after receipt of the complaint, we must either send the complainant:   

• A final written response which (i) accepts the complaint and, where appropriate, offers redress or remedial action or (ii) offers redress or remedial action (without accepting the complaint) or (iii) rejects the complaint and gives reasons for doing so. In all cases, the response should (a) attach the standard explanatory leaflet from the FOS, (b) provide the website address of the FOS, (c) inform the complainant that if he/she remains dissatisfied he/she may now refer the matter to the FOS and (d) indicate whether or not the relevant FOS time limits have been waived. Or   
• A written response which (i) explains why we are not in a position to make a final response, (ii) indicates when we expect to provide a final response, (iii) attaches the standard explanatory leaflet from the FOS, (iv) provides the website address of the FOS, (v) informs the complainant that he/she may now refer the matter to the FOS and (vi) indicates whether or not the relevant FOS time limits have been waived.   

The last two bullet points do not apply if the complainant has already indicated in writing acceptance of a response, provided the response informed the complainant how to pursue his/her complaint if he/she remained dissatisfied.   

Reporting   

Only complaints received from retail clients, professional clients and (where relevant) eligible counterparties need be reported to the FCA.   

The compliance officer will keep a record of each case and its resolution for a minimum of five years from date of receipt showing:   

• Name of complainant.   
• Details of the complaint and its nature.   
• Copies of all correspondence with the complainant about the complaint.   
• Details of the outcome and redress offered.   
• Whether or not the FOS was involved in resolving the matter.   

We will advise the FCA of certain statistics relating to complaints twice yearly showing:   

• Number of complaints received, by category and product type.   
• Number of complaints resolved within the three-day allowance.   
• Number of complaints resolved within eight weeks, more than eight weeks.
• Number of complaints outstanding at end of the reporting period.   

These reports currently relate to the six-monthly and financial year-end periods and must be submitted to the FCA within 30 business days of the end of each period.   

Appropriate management controls should be in place to ensure that, when handling complaints, we identify and remedy any recurring or systemic problems. The controls should take into account the nature, scale and complexity of our business, including the number of complaints received. If such problems come to light, we should consider whether or not we need to take remedial action with regard to other clients who may have suffered detriment in this respect but have not complained.

We must appoint an individual (who is carrying out a governing function such as chief executive, director or partner) to have responsibility for overseeing compliance with DISP 1 (Treating Complainants Fairly) which details the FCA’s complaints-handling requirements.   

Breaches   

You should inform the compliance officer immediately on becoming aware of a breach or any alleged breach, no matter how trivial.   

Breaches can occur either because of human error or where our established procedures and controls have not been complied with. Examples of breaches are:   

• Breach of a client’s investment restrictions.   
• Overdrawing a client money bank account.   
• Not making the FCA quarterly returns within the prescribed timeframes.   
• Not carrying out periodic reconciliation of client cash or assets in accordance with established procedures.   
• Not issuing periodic reports to clients in accordance with established procedures.   
• Breach of our PA dealing procedures.   
• Breach of our inducements procedures.   
• Incorrect information reported to a client in the periodic reports.   
• Wrong investment bought or sold for a client or clients.   
• A corporate action not processed correctly.   
• The person who discovers the breach should provide the compliance officer with written details on a breach record form. The compliance officer will take such action as he/she feels necessary, including getting input from relevant members of staff and senior management in order to:   
• Ensure that any client who has been detrimentally affected is compensated such that he/she is put back in the position he/she was in before the breach.   
• Produce a comprehensive written record on the breach record form covering the following details: a) What went wrong and the consequences. b) Who gave rise to the breach. c) Who discovered the breach. d) Actions taken to rectify the breach. e) Any payment made by us to compensate a client as a result of a breach. f) Claims made against our professional indemnity insurance. g) Any gaps or shortcomings identified in our procedures, IT systems or internal controls and   
• what action will be taken to address these matters.   
• Closely monitor and manage the resolution process.   
• Ensure any procedural weaknesses are fully addressed.   
• The compliance officer will maintain a summary of all breaches in the breaches register. He/she will immediately report any significant breaches to the FCA. Under FCA rule SUP 15.3.12 significance is determined by having regard to potential financial loss to clients or to us, frequency of the breach, implications for our systems and controls and if there were delays in identifying or rectifying the breach.