A new pocket-size guide to compliance to help finance professionals understand the requirements better, has been published by expert Adam Samuel.

The 93-page 'Compliance – a short book' aims to cover the key questions that compliance departments and managers should be tackling.

The author Adam Samuel is an independent compliance expert who has advised financial advisers and retail financial services firms to follow compliance regulations.

Mr Samuel has served on the ethics committee of the Institute of Financial Planning (which later merged with the CISI) where he helped to design and run its disciplinary processes. He also worked with regulators in four countries.

In the book he shows how compliance people do their job and exposes some of the inadequate approaches that can cause financial practitioners to become frustrated with the compliance process.

For instance, he explains how fines for pension misselling and promotions actually stemmed from issues with the governance of the relevant funds and the monitoring of selling annuities and pension products over the telephone.

Mr Samuel said: “Compliance often has a negative reputation. Compliance people can fail to engage effectively with the wider organisation.

“Or they can work with financial services professionals to provide much-needed challenge, but also to improve the service on offer to clients and customers while minimising the risks of something going wrong.”

The first part of the book tackles the question: “What is compliance?" while the second section deals with the various compliance tasks: drafting procedures, advising, monitoring, reporting and handling regulatory and other crises.

Last year the FCA said ‘compliance’ was the top reason for whistleblowers to complain to the regulator. 

The book is available from Amazon at £15 plus postage. 

• Adam Samuel has written extensively on compliance for the trade press and for specialist online websites such as Complinet and Compliance Online. His column for Compliance Monitor goes back 20 years. He wrote the only UK book on complaint handling now in two editions, packing over 1,400 pages combined. He has authored the chapters covering individual responsibility, product governance, ESG, complaints and much of the investment conduct of business sourcebook chapters of the Butterworths Financial Regulation Service.