Angela Rayner and her various lawyers and legal personnel have recently demonstrated that many lessons can be learned, both from an individual and business point of view.

INDIVIDUALS

Individuals should not underestimate the importance of ensuring the correct expert advice is taken, that the expert engaged has been apprised of the full facts and is competent to carry out the work. This is obviously particularly important when dealing with complex situations. While Rayner’s personal circumstances are clearly complicated, she will not be the only household grappling with situations that go beyond the everyday, with permutations of scenarios that require the input of a variety of experts. 

BUSINESSES

Businesses should ensure that they are aware when they are dealing with high profile individuals, or where complex situations require specialist advice, and ensure that both scenarios trigger adequate protocols. Staff should be trained to adequately identify when individual clients will require additional due diligence. It would, for example, be appropriate for a client such as Raynor to automatically trigger enhanced scrutiny as to source of funds and scope of wealth, even without such added complications as to multiple properties and complex ownership structures. 

Firms - and by extension staff - should be aware of regulatory requirements and ensure that they are complying, both in theory and practice. Businesses should be aware of the scope of compliance and beware of so-called ‘compliance creep’ - it is, for example, all being well to endeavour to exclude the giving of tax advice by stating that your client must seek external advice, but if, in practice, for example, tax advice is included in a calculation, the regulatory net may still catch.

The question 'Would you care to comment?', particularly if received after hours, while uncomfortable should also be one for which staff are well prepared. Any member of staff receiving a call asking for comment should be rehearsed as to how to respond, be clear as to who is to lead a response, and to whom the request should be referred.

It is vital that all staff understand compliance and the regulatory framework in which that business operates, particularly where client confidentiality is paramount. Likewise, businesses must understand reputation management and risk, and manage where concepts come into conflict. Even basic business resilience modelling will help ensure reputational risk and compliance with regulations.