Failure is not an option: The impact of client asset handling rules

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) imposed a £120,900 penalty on XCAP Securities in June for failing to properly segregate client money from its own. This case, the first of its kind brought under the new penalty regime, is a further illustration that the FCA, with its consumer led objectives, is determined to impose increasingly significant fines on those committing regulatory breaches. The regulator found that, between June 2010 and 31 August 2011, XCAP, a retail stockbroking and asset management firm, breached Principle 3 (management and control of its business) and Principle 10...