The FSA has launched an e-learning package for small firms to help work out what financial resources are needed to meet regulatory requirements.
The online training course is designed for those with little or no accounting knowledge, highlighting the need of firms to keep adequate financial resources at all times.
Stephen Bland, retail intermediaries sector leader at the FSA, said: “As part of our commitment to make it easier for small firms to do business with us, we have been working to improve what we offer them. We have made a good start but there is still work to be done. The e-learning package is a new way of offering assistance to firms and may offer extra support to those that need it.”
Additionally, the FSA has conducted its first communications survey of small firms to look into what and how firms receive its information. Research showed 82 per cent of them get FSA newsletters, 90 per cent have received FSA e-mails in the last three months, and 62 per cent access the dedicated web-pages at least fortnightly.
It also found 96 per cent of firms are aware of FSA training and over a third of them had attended either a course or a roadshow.
The e-learning package can be accessed via the FSA’s website at www.fsa.gov.uk/smallfirms.
London-based sole broker Roy New commented: “The FSA has used a large mallet to crack a small nut. Generally speaking, its communications have been helpful but when compared it to costs incurred by small firms it hardly equates.”
