The importance of strong TPA Oversight related to CASS

TPA oversight has been a focus for the auditors for the last couple of years due to past failings, so FourthLine's CASS team hosted a Breakfast Briefing on the topic.

Following the auditors focusing on the strength of firms TPA oversight related to CASS, FourthLine decided to host our second CASS event of 2018 around this hot topic at the highly impressive Sky Garden on Fenchurch Street.

The breakfast event lasted for 2 hours and included a 30 minute presentation and Q&A by one of the CASS experts in our network, Zak Karim of Karim Consultancy. This was followed by a peer2peer discussion over breakfast. Zak advised how to ensure strong TPA oversight and the skills that make a strong oversight professional.

Some of the key points discussed included:

• TPA Oversight is at the top of the FCA’s CASS agenda.
• Activities can be delegated but regulatory obligation cannot be.
• Processes should be understood as if performed in-house.
• Establish strong governance & oversight.
• Establish a transparent breach reporting process.
• Implement ongoing due diligence, monitoring and reviews.
• Importance of soft skills to foster a positive relationship.

Following the event, we caught up with Zak to find out more about the areas of debate covered during the session.