The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is the latest high-profile public sector organisation to join CIFAS, the UK's Fraud Prevention Service, to counteract fraudulent behaviours among regulated individuals.
The FSA will pass information to CIFAS where false or inaccurate information has been provided by FSA regulated professionals or providers of financial services products; e.g. mortgage brokers, independent financial advisers and actuaries. Similarly, where regulation demands FSA approval of an individual, the FSA will be able to double-check whether that individual has committed fraud in the past by searching for them on the CIFAS National Fraud Database.
The FSA's membership of CIFAS follows on from the Legal Services Commission becoming the first public-sector body to commit to sharing information on confirmed frauds with the private sector through CIFAS in 2010.
Welcoming the FSA's membership, CIFAS Chief Executive, Peter Hurst, said: "We look forward to working with the FSA, the organisation responsible for the regulation of the financial services industry in the UK, and helping them to meet further their statutory objectives of reducing financial crime; securing the appropriate degree of protection for consumers; contributing to the protection and enhancement of the stability of the UK financial system and maintaining market confidence by reducing the impact of fraud.
"The FSA knows that regulation must be proportionate, and CIFAS membership is in line with this; helping to prevent millions in fraud losses while not impacting on those genuine parties who have not attempted to defraud UK consumers and taxpayers."
FSA's Head of Financial Crime and Intelligence Department, Bob Ferguson, said: "The FSA has many partnerships which help it in the fight against financial crime. The addition of CIFAS membership will enhance that suite of contacts, thereby helping it to be even more successful in reducing financial crime in the financial services industry."
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