Niche asset finance law firm, Bermans, has moved swiftly to secure FCA authorisation for its operations. Believed to be one of the first, if not the first, firm in the motor finance sector to secure authorisation, Bermans is proud of its achievement.
Bermans’ head of motor finance, Nick Harvey, said: "Securing authorisation has been a real team effort in which the firm as a whole has had to embrace a stringent culture of compliance. The process of gaining authorisation has involved nine months of examination and re-examination of all our systems and processes in consultation with the FCA.
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"Evidencing robust processes, as well as the underlying policies, to the requisite standard required by the FCA has been a Herculean task, but it has proved hugely beneficial to the business.
"A period of introspection is good for all businesses and through this process we have been able to review, refresh and revitalise the manner in which we conduct our business. It has also empowered the whole team to take stock of what they do, analyse it, and contribute proactively to day-to-day business operations. The increased levels of efficiency and motivation are already self-evident.
"Also, we’ve found that our early experience of the process has enabled us to assist our clients in their own journey down the road to full authorisation and helped us all to forge a more collaborate approach to collection and recoveries activity.
"Each business will experience different challenges on the compliance roller coaster, but I can recommend all adopting the following ‘Review’ staged plan which served the firm so well (see box above). Well managed businesses have nothing to fear."
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By GlobalDataNick Harvey is head of motor finance at Bermans
