Like many others my daughter suffers from Hay Fever. This is a great pity as on occasions it has stopped her and us enjoying some very fine barbecues in the country. It has gradually got worse the older she has become However I recently learnt and introduced to her diet that you seem to start to build up immunity if you take a daily dose of local honey to the area you live. Basically the local pollen in the honey gets her used to the pollen in the air in the summer months and acts a bit like a vaccine. Only time will tell next summer.

So what has this got to do with the FCA?

In order to celebrate the return from summer “Market Watch 49” was published by the FCA on the 1st September. It is a thematic review of findings of the trading of commodities. It has come out with some very clear messages of what it believes are good and bad practices in the effectiveness of the controls, management and governance structures of Commodity Trading Firms.

Obviously this does not apply directly to the Fund Management World but the same principals and points raised by the FCA would be looked at in any thematic review of a Fund Management Company tailored to its own business. Therefore I would strongly urge all to read the review and ask how my business stands up to these questions and points. Do we need to look at our practices to come into line with best practice in our area of expertise?

It’s the same principal referencing to the required standard and adjusting at your leisure (spoonful of honey) is so much easier than dealing with the headache, sore throat and dry cough (Hay Fever) after the review which may have found you lacking in process and standards.

Here is the link read and think- how am I doing against these points. A good advisor/ non-executive Director will always be on the lookout for such well documented review and should be asking you this question. It’s even brief at four pages but certainly made me think about the groups I talk to.

http://www.fca.org.uk/static/documents/newsletters/market-watch-49.pdf

You don’t want to get FCA Fever.