The QFC Regulatory Authority’s Enforcement department is an important part of the QFC regulatory regime and plays a significant role in helping to achieve our objectives. 

Enforcement has a wide range of powers at its disposal which it uses strategically to prevent, detect and restrain conduct which may cause damage to the reputation or integrity of the QFC.  

The enforcement strategy is targeted but flexible, and the QFC Regulatory Authority focuses its enforcement powers on those areas which pose the greatest risk to its objectives. This ensures that a proportionate response is taken to identified risks.

Principles:

In taking regulatory action, the Enforcement team is guided by the following principles:

• proportionality
• acting decisively
• procedural fairness and integrity
• keeping the QFC financial services community informed
• co-operation and mutual assistance

These principles form the basis of the policies, processes and procedures applied by the department and are more fully set out in the Enforcement Policy Statement 2012. This statement sets out our approach to enforcement and will be of assistance to those firms and individuals that are subject to enforcement action by the QFC Regulatory Authority. It also gives assurance that those affected by enforcement actions will be treated in a fair and consistent manner.

Not all enforcement investigations lead to disciplinary action. However, where misconduct is identified and disciplinary action is appropriate, the QFC Regulatory Authority has a range of sanctions available – these include prohibition, withdrawal of approval or authorisation, public censure and the power to impose financial penalties. These sanctions are designed to allow us to deliver strong, visible outcomes.  

The publicity given to enforcement actions is also important, not only to ensure transparency of the QFC Regulatory Authority’s actions, but to deter other firms and individuals from committing similar contraventions.

To read more about the QFC Regulatory Authority’s Enforcement function, click on the link below:

Enforcement Policy Statement 2012