Welcome to Financial Services Compliance

FSC is an independent consultancy practice with a history and pedigree going back to 1995. One of our founders was Ronald Smith who was Director of Operations and Deputy Chief Executive at IMRO until 1993. Ronald Smith retired from FSC in June 2005. Since our foundation in 1995, we have placed great emphasis on building, maintaining and enhancing the high quality of our professional services.

As the saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Almost all of our clients have come to us by word-of-mouth recommendation. We are delighted that Ronald Smith won the Commendation Award for Best Compliance Consultant at the Outstanding Service to Compliance and Regulation Awards in 2004. At the 2005 Awards, he won in two categories namely Best Compliance Consultant Award (Investment Management) and Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement. These Awards demonstrate our pedigree and commitment to quality.

A Personal Message From Ben Goh, Managing Director

I have a long track record of helping clients achieve exemplary compliance standards. For example, IMRO (one of the former regulators) had a list of 50 firms which it considered had the highest compliance standards – the so-called nifty fifty, of which 4 were my clients. Another example, in 1998, I advised a client not to have Lehman Brothers as their sole custodian and prime broker otherwise they would be putting all their eggs in one basket. I said that by doing so, it could be a gigantic omelette waiting to happen. At the time, the client’s CEO thought I must be mad by suggesting that Lehmans could go bust. In 2008 the unthinkable happened but fortunately the client had followed my advice and had only 20% of their assets tied up with Lehmans. A very grateful CEO rang me from New York to apologise for giving me such a hard time in 1998! We need to realise that wisdom, unlike senility, does not naturally come with age; it develops in a much more reliable way if you do not let your emotions limit your intellect.

While acting as expert witness on a litigation case, I found the cleverly hidden proverbial smoking gun which meant that the other party dropped their defence and settled very promptly out of court.

The above are some examples of the more interesting cases that have come my way in my consulting career.

I believe that your destiny need not be your destination. Always strive to be the master of your own destiny. Let me know if I can help.

Our Motto

At FSC, we firmly believe in the Latin saying  “homo doctus in se semper divitias habet” which, in English, translates as: “A  learned  man  always has wealth within himself”. In this spirit, we are proud to be associated at the corporate or individual level with reputable organisations such as:-

  • Chartered Governance Institute
  • Chartered Investment & Securities Institute
  • The Compliance Register
  • Chartered Institute of Bankers
  • Chartered Institute of Management Accountants
  • Guild of International Bankers
  • Society of Expert Witnesses

Our Approach

Business success is as much about avoiding problems as having to solve them. It is a truism that prevention is better and cheaper than the cure. We firmly believe that good compliance is inseparable from good management in the financial services industry. Good compliance requirements and culture need to be integral to everyday operational procedures and practice.

With our experience, knowledge and expertise, FSC can help you to ensure that your operations and practices meet or even exceed the expectations of the regulators and enhance the confidence of your customers. At FSC we approach our services consistently with these principles in mind. In doing so, we take account of your business interests and operating objectives. Our aim is to help you in the attainment of your goals through providing cost-effective compliance of the highest possible standard. Along the way, we also encourage you to have fun. After all, life is not worth living if you do not have fun each day!

Testimonials (Subject to client confidentiality) 

First they (the FSC team) took the drama out of the crisis. Then they very efficiently extinguished the crisis. All this was completed in three months. Prior to this, we had another  consultancy for some 18 months who got no where with our problems.

I am happy to put my hand up as the CEO who rang Ben Goh in 2008 to thank him for his excellent advice on not putting all our eggs in one basket (Lehman Brothers).

In mid-December 2008, amidst all the doom and gloom of the financial crisis, we launched a brand new fund because Ben Goh had taught us to think out of the box. Any fool can make money when the markets are good, making money in bad markets is a job for the real professionals. Instead of utter failure, the fund was oversubscribed in 3 days.

Ben Goh and his team has conducted excellent training and provided first class advice in preparing me for the Upper Tribunal hearing.

Ben Goh has provided excellent expert witness work in our arbitration case at the London International Court of Arbitration.

The FSC team has been instrumental in achieving the best possible outcome for us in a regulatory investigation involving, inter alia, insider dealing and market abuse.

FSC has been our consultants since 1998 when Ben Goh dealt with our authorisation application with IMRO. Since then we have grown from 2 fund managers, 1 secretary and a dog to a global player with offices in London, New York, Singapore and Dubai. We are indebted to Ben and his team for our success.

I met Ben Goh when he delivered the most inspirational talk on compliance and how compliance can be more than just a cost centre. In fact, it can be a profit centre.

 

Ronald Smith Honoured By The Industry

We are pleased that Ronald Smith, one of the directors of FSC, won two Awards at The 2005 Compliance Register Platinum Awards for Outstanding Service to Compliance and Regulation.  He won the Best Compliance Consultant Award (Investment Management) and The Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award for his services to the compliance world. These Awards demonstrate FSC’s pedigree and commitment to excellence. Ronald Smith retired from practice in June 2005 but the tradition of excellence will continue with unabated enthusiasm. You can watch a video clip of Ronald Smith being interviewed by the celebrity Lynsey de Paul if you click here.