Water and Management Precipitation Input

Water and Management Precipitation Input Abstract: One of the key issues in flood management is knowledge of the precipitation input into catchments for hydrologists knowledge of this serves to mitigate hazardous and environmental catastrophes, it is thus imperative to adequately determine precipitation input with appropriate and applicable statistical tools. The objective of this study is to determine the actual precipitation input and suggest the most appropriate method of determining precipitation input for the model catchment provided. Standard and commonly used methods of obtaining the areal precipitation input over a catchment area from rain gauge measurements at the precipitation stations are the Arithmetic mean, Thiessen Polygon, Isohyetal, and the Hypsometric methods. These methods serve as good approximations where the topography of a catchment is flat, if the gauges are uniformly distributed and the individual gauge catches do not differ extensively from the mean. Arithmetic mean: This is the simplest form of giving a value of the average rainfall over a certain area, and works well under the following conditions: When the catchment area is sampled by many uniformly spaced rain gauges When the area has no marked diversity in topography (Davie, 2008) Applying this measurement tool to the arithmetic mean: There are 7 rain gauges with the mean value being 27.14 The total catchment area is = 456km 456 million square meters, 27mm = 0.027 meters So 456,000,000 x 0.027m  § = 12,312,000 m3 Thiessen Polygons: The method was devised by an American engineer, the method provides for the non-uniform distribution of gauges by determining a weighting factor for each gauge. This factor is based on the size of the area within the drainage basin that is closest to a given rain gauge. These areas are otherwise known as irregular polygons. The method is straightforward and easy to use: The catchment is divided into polygons by lines that are equidistant between pair of adjacent stations The lines/polygons are bisected Workout the area of each polygon by counting the squares within each Sums up the areas Compare to arithmetic method to confirm the two are the same Convert the individual polygonal areas to million sq meters and multiply by the converted precipitation rain gauges for example: o 178,000,000 x0.055 =9,790,000 Once this is done add them altogether to derive the total volume of precipitation input within the catchment. Isohyetal method This considered one of the most accurate methods; however as one will often find the method is subject to individual abilities and the knowledge of the general catchment. (Shaw, 1994) The method is more complicated than the first two: To derive of an accurate estimation of the rainfall input one must first find the distance between two rain gauges in mm and eventually interpolate and extrapolate the line to give the adjacent rainfall levels, which can later be plotted back onto the catchment sheet. i.e. method of summation: get the equidistant line between the two rain gauges take for example the distance in mm between gauge A and B 8.5cm-convert to mm- 85mm find the difference between the two rainfall gauges 55-30=25 now to work out the a  ¼ of 85, one would divide 85/100 and multiply this by 25  § =21.25 Which is subsequently a  ¼ of the equidistant line between the two rainfall gauges This figure can be used to derive the 2/4 point, the  ¾ point etc. By simply doubling the 21.25 figure you arrive at the 2/4 or 50% point and then to get the 75% point adds 21.25 to the 50% point. One must now expand on the quartiles between the rainfall gauges: This is done by using the difference (25) calculated earlier. Half of this gives 12.5 which when added to the first gauge, or gauge B (30mm) you get 42.5. Half of 12.5 gives 6.25, which when added to 30 gives 36.25, and so on until it matches against the adjacent measuring line. (*see supplementary sheets to see for techniques and further explanation) -once this is done plot the rainfall values using the adjacent measurements and join lines of equal rainfall Then progress to count the areas between the isohyets and find the average the two. Convert the individual areas to million sq meters and multiply by the converted average precipitation values for example: 31,000,000 x 0.059 = 1,829,000 cm3 Do the same with all the values; add them to get the total volume of precipitation input. Hypsometric Method The method uses catchment topography and the rainfall measurements to derive of a total weighted precipitation input. It fairly accurate however is also dependant on the abilities of an individual, whilst drawing the hypsometric curve. The hypsometric curve allows for adjacent precipitation values to read from the graph. The area underneath the curve of precipitation gives the area of an individual gauge, and can be calculated thereafter in the same system as the previous two methods: Analysis/Conclusion: It is clear from the results that the arithmetic mean is the likely to be less accurate than the other 3 methods, this is due to the catchment having qualities, such as topography and well distributed gauges which are characteristics that prove desirable to the other three methods. I have averaged the precipitation inputs to get a more accurate figure: Averaged 15,027,250 Total volume cm3 It has been very difficult to observe a trend of between the methods, however three major patterns have been observed, the arithmetic mean varies much from the Thiessen weights and other two weights, showing that on one level the arithmetic mean is less accurate and takes the values into a much broader scale, whereas the other three methods are much more specific. The relation between the weights is very spread because the precipitation input is governed by various factors and complex activities, and each method also demands certain qualities within a catchment for it to be applied appropriately, take for example the Isohyetal method which is subjective to individual abilities and knowledge of the catchment area, which in this case is not entirely possible, given the limited background information. References: Davie, T., (2008) Fundamentals of Hydrology Volume 1 of Routledge fundamentals of physical geography series, 2, illustrated, Routledge, pp28-30 Brooks, K. N., (2003) Hydrology and the management of watersheds, ed.3, illustrated, Wiley-Blackwell, pp30-34 ASCE (1996) Hydrology handbook, Iss. 28 Vol. 28 of Time Life Complete Gardener, American Society of Civil Engineers Publications, pp 40-48 Shaw, E.M., (1994) Hydrology in Practice, Taylor Francis, illustrated, 3rd ed., pp208-212

Cell Phones: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Essay

The prevalence of cell phones in American culture shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone. Cell phone use has risen in the United States from approximately 91,000 users in 1985 to 250,000,000 in 2007 and in 2009 was somewhere in the neighborhood of 280,000,000, which means that approximately 90% of Americans own cell phones. And Americans aren’t the only ones. According to a February 2010 article on www.cbsnews.com, there are approximately 4.6 billion cell phone subscriptions worldwide and that number is expected to surpass five billion by the end of the year. I had to wonder, what are the advantages and disadvantages of 90% of Americans (New York Times, May 13, 2010) and nearly 85% of the world’s population using cell phones? I figure there had to be quite a few advantages for so many people to have cell phones, so I asked around. The number one answer I found was the convenience. Peoples’ ability to be reached at all times, able to reach others at all times, and how fast communication with others has become. Can’t reach someone by phone? Send a text. Text messages are delivered almost instantaneously and there’s no need to leave a message and wait for a call back anymore. Many others cited having a cell phone in case of emergency. According to Pew Internet, in 2006, 74% of cell phone users reported using their cell phones in emergency situations. While cell phone bills are usually not lower than landline bills alone, the long distance cost is significantly less for cell phone users. Long distance costs are included in the overall minute usage for most cell phone subscriptions, whereas many landline providers charge by the minute for long distance calls. As cell phone technology advances, so do the tools available to cell phone users. A growing number of users report using their phones for such things as listening to music, checking email, keeping their daily calendars, making grocery lists, and even keeping track of daily calorie intake. (New York Times, May 13, 2010). There are many organizational tools available on the new generation of â€Å"smart phones† as well as many different navigational tools. GPS locators in phones are subscribed to by many parents of underage cell phone users. Cell phones can also be used as cameras and video recorders and those photos and videos are easily emailed to others or  uploaded to sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Entertainment is even making the list of advantages to having a cell phone these days. As I mentioned previously, users can listen to music on their cell phones, but it doesn’t stop there. Technology has advanced so much that users can now watch television shows and movies on their phones. So it seems I was correct about how many advantages must be out there, but what about the downside? The very first thought I had was about the ban on cell phones in schools and what a huge disruption cell phones must be in the classroom. That issue is just part of the larger issue of the widespread distraction cell phones cause. Everywhere you go you see cell phones in use – in the coffee shop, the movie theater, the grocery store, even church, and while driving. Going back to the cost of cell phones, while heavy long distance users may notice a relief in their long distance costs, cell phones are still on average much more expensive to operate than a landline. There are costs for air time usage, text message usage, broadband usage, music purchases, games purchases, and app purchases, not to mention the dreaded overage costs. Some cell phone companies charge as much as sixty cents per minute for every minute of air time over your allotted plan. Add that to long contracts and hefty fees for cancelling contracts and cell phones become quite an expensive venture. The ever-increasing technology is adding to these costs as well. Newer, smarter phones released every few months are of course attractive to users, but on top of the cost of upgrading phones on a regular basis is the added cost of the service provider’s data package. In order to utilize these newer smart phones, the data package is a requirement and on average costs something like an additional $30 per month. Aside from financial impact, what about health impact? There seems to be quite a bit of worry over the radio frequency radiation given off by cell phones and cell phone towers. There is much argument about whether or not this sort of radiation is of any real concern, but according to www.controlyourimpact.com, there are many very serious health concerns to think about. There are reports that cell phone use can cause disturbances in sleep and concentration, fatigue, and headache. According to a BBC News report (www.news.bbc.co.uk), â€Å"Cell phones damage key brain cells and could trigger the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease . . . Researchers have found  that radiation from cell phone handsets damages areas of the brain associated with learning, memory and movement.† Reports linking cell phones to sterility in men, eye tissue damage, and increased chances of depression and cancer have also been published. In researching the negative effects of cell phones, I happened across some even more sinister effects. Take â€Å"sexting† – â€Å"the act of sending, receiving, or forwarding sexually explicit messages, photos, or images via cell phone, computer, or other digital device. These messages, photos, and images are then often being further disseminated through email and internet-based social networking websites well beyond their original intended recipients.† (www.mass.gov) There have been hundreds of reported cases of sexting – a handful of those cases involving suicide and/or sex offense criminal charges such as child pornography in the cases involving high school students. According to www.msnbc.com, 39% of high schools students admit to sending these types of messages and 48% say they’ve received them. Another very dangerous habit Americans have developed is talking on their cell phone while driving. â€Å"You have four times the risk of being in a crash if you’re on the phone while driving.† (www.myoptumhealth.com) What’s even scarier are the results of a Car and Driver Magazine study that found texting while driving is much worse than driving while intoxicated. The results of this study showed that unimpaired, it took the test driver .54 seconds to brake when indicated to do so. Add four feet to that time for legally drunk drivers, thirty six feet for drivers reading email and seventy feet for drivers reading a text. (http://www.cnbc.com/id/31545004/site/14081545). According to a report by the National Safety Council, 28% of accidents involve talking or texting on cell phones. I couldn’t help but notice that the risks seem to outweigh the benefits considerably, but I also admit that I’m still addicted to my cell phone. There has been some state regulation of cell phone use while driving, but there is little restriction of their use elsewhere and I think there needs to be much more, although, I’m not certain how feasible that would be to accomplish. At any rate, we all make our own choices and we all need to  make smarter choices about our cell phone use.

InterClean-Enviro Tech Merger Paper Essay

InterClean-Enviro Tech Merger Paper With the impending merger between InterClean and EnviroTech, it has become very important that both companies realize the most important issue that will make their merging successful; and that is understanding that customers are becoming more concerned about the rigorous environmental safety requirements that have started to plague the industrial cleaning and sanitation industry. Health care clients are being put on notice as to the new regulations that are rising about the maintenance of how sterile they are able to keep their environment. This merger will not only provide customers with the usual offering of products that can only cut through the grime and kill most of the germs that are present in these clients environments, but it will also give the client the opportunity to receive training for the clients employees, regular monitoring of the satisfaction of the product, possible full cleaning service contracts and also consistent information sharing of guideline changes. At this point, the plans that the CEO David Spencer expects to meet as far as staffing is concerned are as follows: †¢Inventory the skills of the current sales force, and identify skills and competency levels needed for the new sales direction. Determine which gaps need to be filled with new hires. †¢Establish optimal size and composition of the sales force. †¢Project estimated training and development costs. †¢Develop a staffing audit process, and identify phases of execution. (Universty of Phoenix, 2013, p. 4). The CEO, Mr. Spencer has opted to try and acquire 60 of EnviroTechs sales staff and operations specialists for the InterClean merger. Once the above mentioned tasks are completed, then The HR department will be able to determine whether or not they will need to start doing possible rightsizing  within the company. Although it seems obvious that this is not the current plans for the company, when mergers take place there is always the possibility that some employees may lose their positions. Rightsizing, according to â€Å"Rightsizing vs. Downsizing? Big Difference!† (2012), tends to be less detrimental for an organization than downsizing is. Downsizing tends to come at the time when an organization is put into the position of having to let go of employees due to economic issues, natural disaster, and other uncontrollable circumstances. However, rightsizing is looked at in a more positive light by some. Even though it is pretty much the same outcome, rightsizing is a more proactive stance for the organization to take because instead of waiting for disaster or hard times to hit that will cause lay-offs, the decision makers are constantly assessing the market trends and needs, new ideas for the organization and also new technologies available for the organization. Rightsizing focuses on the future of the organization and does a sort of forecasting to determine what skills they will need their employees to have in order to guide the organization in the way that is desired. Once this is done it will give the decision makers, mostly managers and HR staff, a better vision of who they need to hire, what training is needed for new and existing employees and/or what employees that may need to eliminate. Understanding the position that InterClean is in right now, this would be the best opportunity for them to determine if they are going to take part in rightsizing within their organization. The HR staff is taking all the necessary steps to determine if they any staffing changes will be necessary during this merger. If it comes to the point where InterClean sees that it will have to make adjustments and layoffs some of its employees the most ethical and legal way to do so will be for them to use the performance evaluations of the employees and measure their abilities to perform the jobs to help them determine who goes and who stays. They can also take the step of retaining the senior employees in each department as well. However, there are senior employees that coming over from EnviroTech as well so they must be kept in consideration to retain their positions as well, because they are the senior employees for the acquired company and their knowledge will be needed for the direction the company is trying to travel in. The company may find that some of their senior employees are not the best qualified. Seniority based layoffs can raise important but thorny procedural internal labor market issues, such as how to exactly county seniority and what bumping rights employees targeted for layoffs might have (Heneman & Judge, p. 26, 2009). Therefore, InterClean must ensure that must be in line with the laws and regulations that have been set up for things of this nature. Layoffs must be based on legitimate basis such as merit, seniority, or performance. When and if the choice comes for InterClean to make the choice of involuntary separations, they should still make sure that all the necessary steps are taken to ensure that all employees from both companies are afforded the opportunity to have their performance evaluations reviewed to make sure they are given the best chance to be retained among all other employees. They must make sure that they have reviewed the laws for involuntary layoffs and have their contingencies in place just in case those employees that may have been let go try to fight the decision the company has made. Anytime an organization is consideration the acquisition of another company, there is always the possibility that some employees may be eliminated. In the acquisition between InterClean and EnviroTech, the CEO seems to have made it clear that he wants to try and bring as many employees over from EnviroTech to utilize their expertise in the organization and also towards the plans and direction he has envisioned for the organization. While rightsizing is similar to downsizing and can even be thought of as the same, rightsizing does not seem to have such a sizable negative impact, unlike downsizing: partly because, the managers are consistently trying to implement strategic ways to help the organization become more efficient, competitive and profitable. References Heneman, H., & Judge, T. (2009). Staffig Organizatons (6th ed.). Retrieved from https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/content/eBookLibrary2/content/eReader.aspx Rightsizing vs. Downsizing? Big Difference!. (2012, September). The Growth Strategist, . Retrieved from http://ambler.com/article-library/rightsizing-vs-downsizing-big- difference/ Universty of Phoenix. (2013). InterClean-EnviroTch Merger Scenario. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, HRM/548 website.

Overview On Guidelines Of The Financial Services Authority Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 11 Words: 3201 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? This report advises Financial Institutions importance of the principals and guidelines of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and as a legal advisor at Peter Bloomfield. The report will look at how companies, employees and managers are approved in accordance to advising regulated activities, how companies have responsibilities if they fail to comply with the laws and regulations set and what appropriate action is required to the set FSA guidelines. The FSA is an independent non-governmental body who are limited by guarantee and financed by the financial services industry. The FSA have statutory powers under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000). The UK Treasury appoints the FSA board consisting of an appointed Chairperson, Chief Executive Officers, two Managing Directors, and eleven Non-Executive Directors including a lead Non-Executive Member who takes responsibility as a Deputy Chairman. The FSA are given a wide range of rulemaking, in vestigatory and enforcement powers in order to towards four statutory objectives: Market Confidence maintaining confidence in the financial system. Financial Stability contributing to the protection and the enhancement of the UK financial system. Consumer Protection securing the appropriate degree of protection for consumers Reduction of Financial Crime reducing to the extent to which it is possible for a business to be used for a purpose connected with financial crime. The FSMA 2000 is supported by a set of principles for good regulation. Efficiency and Economy the need to use resources in the most efficient way. Role of Management the companys senior managers are responsible for activities and for ensuring that its business complies with regulatory requirements. Proportionality the restriction the FSA impose on industry must be proportionate to the benefits that are expected to result from those restrictions. Innovation to carry innovative measu res when regulating activities International character including the desirability of maintaining the competitive position of the UK Competition the need to minimise the adverse effect on competition that may arise from the FSAs activity and the desirability of facilitating competition between the companies it regulates. The FSA has an organised high level qualification process for companies and persons in the industry to be approved. High standard levels are applicable to all companies firms and approved persons that are approved by the company to give advice and practice. The company must meet and adhere to the following threshold conditions. Legal status of the firm Firms must be a body corporate or a partnership not a limited liability partnership. The head office must be located and registered in the UK. For the insurance of motor vehicles the firm must have an appointed claims represented in each EEA states other than the UK. If a firm has close links with other firms then FSA must be satisfied that those links are not likely to prevent the firms supervision by the FSA. The FSA should take into account whether it is likely that it will receive adequate information from the firm and the persons with the firm have close links. The firms resources need to be adequate to carry out regulated activities, FSA take into account membership of which the firm may belong to and the sort of provisions made as a member of the group in respect of liabilities. Suitability of the firm, is the suitable for regulated activities? Whether the employees of the firm are suitable under the approved persons test. The firms suitability depends on whether the firm: Will conduct business with integrity and compliance of proper standards. Work competently. Can demonstrate that it will conduct its affairs with expertise, due skill, care and vigilance. If a firm fails or is failing to satisfy these conditions then the FSA may exercise its own prin ciple power under section 45 and can cancel the permission of the firm for regulated activities. The FSA encourages firms to take reasonable care to effectively follow and plan the FSA rule book in the firms activities. It is the firms obligation to take responsibility to maintain appropriate systems and to control the daily business appropriately of mitigating the risk involved in dealing with transactions and policies. A firm must take reasonable care to establish and maintain systems and controls appropriate to the scale, nature complexity of its business. The rulebook of the FSA spans an enormous gamut from issues of strategic, overarching significance, such as solvency margins, to matters of fine detail, such as the nature of wording of individual advertisements (Ennew, 2007,p.18) Senior managers have to be certain all records must be kept to show a clear chain of responsibility and data is secure as a back up. A separate system must be in place for external auditing. Firms must have a compliance officer that deals with complaints, check routine paper work and giving the firm guidance in the sales process complying with FSA rules and regulations. If the firms receive a complaint the compliance officer must respond promptly with a written acknowledgement providing early reassurance that it has received the complaint. The firm must inform the complainant of the measures and progress for the resolution. The complaint must be settled within eight days of receiving the complaint, if the complaint has not been settled then the firm must explain why its not in a position to resolve the complaint and explain when its to be able to provide one. The complainant must be advised the complaint can be referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The purpose of the FSA approval of individuals who perform controlled functions is to ensure that the individuals concerned are fit and proper under the FSMA 2000. When considering a candidates fitness and propri ety the FSA considers honesty, integrity and reputation. Competence, capability and finally financial soundness, an individual cannot be approved in advance of a firm being authorised. Remember that an approval is not once and for all process approved person must maintain their fitness and propriety or the FSA can withdraw any approval from them https://www.cii.co.uk/cii/about/re/responsibilities/fit_and_proper_test.aspx Accessed 27 December 2010 The FSA must be informed of any matters that could affect a persons honesty, integrity and reputation. Any criminal convictions must be disclosed, the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 does not apply to the questions for assessing a persons suitability to be an approved person. The FSA must consider whether the person has ever been convicted of a criminal offence and must pay particular attention to offences of dishonesty, fraud or financial crime. The second criterion under which the FSA judges applicants for approved person s tatus is competence and capability. An applicant must meet and adhere to the requirements of the Training and Competence Sourcebook in relation to the controlled functions for which they are seeking approval. The applicant must demonstrate by their experience that they will or be able to perform controlled functions. The final criterion for assessing an applicants fitness and prosperity is financial soundness; the main issues are the applicant being subject of any judgement debt or award that remains outstanding or was not settled within a period of time. Whether the applicant has made any arrangements with their creditors, filled for bankruptcy, been adjudged bankrupt, has assets seized or been involved in proceedings relating to any of these. Task 2 The FSA has four statutory objectives and the reduction of financial crime is amongst them. The reduction of financial crime objectives supports, and is supported by, other objectives the protection of consumers, market confid ence and financial stability. Financial crime includes any offence including fraud or dishonesty, market abuse and money laundering. The financial crime objective requires the FSA to reduce the extent regulated persons, firms and unauthorised business can be used for a purpose concerned with financial crime. FSMA also states that pursuing the reduction of financial crime firms must remain vigilant and being aware of their business used in connection with financial crime. Firms must make appropriate measures and have in place procedures and adequate recourses to prevent financial crime. Market abuse is improper conduct that undermines the UK financial markets or damages the interest of ordinary market principles. The FSMA 2000 section 118 creates civil penalties for markets abuse which run parallel to the criminal justice offences. The criminal offences are making a misleading statement and engaging in a misleading course of conducts for the purpose of inducing another perso n to or refrains from exercising rights in relation to investments. https://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/doing/regulated/law/focus/conduct.shtml Accessed on 03 January 2011 The civil offence, as defined in section 118 of FSMA, can be any of the seven types of behaviour: Insider dealing. Improper disclosure. Misuse of information. Manipulating transactions. Manipulating devices. Dissemination. Distortion and misleading behaviour. Inside information is precise information that is not generally available in the investment markets, stock exchange or in the public domain. Subsequently investors would use the information making an investment decision. If this type of information is available generally it would significantly affect the price of an investment. Information which is gained through general research and analysis is not inside information. An insider is any person who has inside information: As a result of their membership of the administrative, manag ement or supervisory body of an issuer of qualify in investments; As a result of holding capital of an issuer or prescribed investments; As a result of having access to the information through their employment, profession or duties; As a result of criminal activities; or Which they have obtained by other means, e.g. a tip-off from a friend, and which they know, or could be reasonably expected to know, is inside information. Morkett UBS a mortgage and investment firm have four employees who used confidential and secured information regarding takeover bids for the firms six clients. This information was used for personal investment and interests; therefore this constitutes to insider dealings and has committed two offences. Firstly, a criminal offence under part V of the Criminal Justice Act 1993 which is the current legislation but before section sixty nine to seventy three part V of the Companies Act 1980 stated that insider dealing as a criminal offence in certain specified areas. Then subsequent consolidations can be cited in Company Securities (insider dealing) Act 1985 which was then amended by the Financial Services Act 1986. They have also committed a criminal act under Section 401/402 FSMA 2000. The EC Insider Dealing Directive was adopted in 1989 and implemented in the UK by Part V of the Criminal Justice Act1993. The approach adopted in the Criminal Justice Act follows that in EC Insider Dealing Directive (IDD) in that it treats insider dealing as an abuse of a market rather than a breach of the insiders fiduciary obligations to the company https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/3950D4A4-5792-412C-BA89-1B30827101C7/0/BC_RS_eudirectives_1205_FR.pdf Accessed 04 January 2011 Secondly, a civil offence under section 118 of the Financial Services Markets Act 2000 relating to market abuse. The action of the employees directly fall into section 118 2a FSMA 2000, where the information was used for their own interests and financial gain. Section 118 FSMA creates civil penalties for market abuse which run parallel to the criminal offences. The employees have committed a serious criminal offense where the general public and other shareholders were at risk. This offence could have affected other investors interest and businesses arrangements with dealing with the six companies. Morkett UBS must take appropriate action by reporting the insider dealing case to the FSA. The four employees must be suspended until further investigation. If they are found guilty they will not be able to practice and advise regulated activities. These actions may lead the FSA to investigate with the local constabulary and may result to an unlimited fine and up to seven years imprisonment. The FSA should prosecute them via a criminal act as they have enough evidence in place. The information was stolen, the investment resulted to a financial gain and the information was not widely or publicly available as they were confidential documents. In addition Mr Oliver Tate, the approved person for the firm undertook his responsibility in an inconsistent and irresponsible manor allowing other members of staff to commit mortgage fraud. The mortgage advisors were able to submit false mortgage applications using Olivers login details. Mr Tates misconduct has resulted in committing a breach of principle five of the FSAs qualifying process and approved person. Morkett UBS and Mr Tate have failed to meet the threshold conditions and high level standards applied to give advice and practice regulated activities. Mortgage fraud is a crime and we take any failings that put customers and lenders at risk very seriously. The prohibitions will help mortgage market a safer place and the fines will send a message to other intermediaries that they must adhere to our rules and act with integrity at all times, or face the consequences. https://www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk/regulation/fsa-bans-three-fraudulent-mortgage-brokers/ 1020083.article Accessed 07 January 2011 Furthermore Morkett UBS and Mr Tate have failed to put in place adequate systems and controls to prevent false and misleading mortgage applications being submitted to lenders and to ensure customer files are checked. The senior management at Morkett UBS must stop all regulated activities, the FSA must be informed. If the firm is allowed to continue providing regulated activities it must adhere by the qualifying process. An approved persons fit and proper test must be carried out again. The firm must have in place adequate systems and controls. The FSA will investigate the case of fraudulent mortgages at Morkett UBS leading to Mr Tate and whoever was involved in the case to be prohibited from regulated activities. Task 3 Money laundering regulations apply to various business sectors, including financial markets and credit business, accountants and estate agents. Money laundering regulations are implemented to protect the UK fina ncial system. Businesses and firms that are regulated must have in place adequate systems and controls to prevent money laundering by criminals and terrorists. Public confidence in financial institutions, and hence their stability, is enhanced by sound banking practices that reduce financial risks to their operations (Schott, 2006, p11-8) The Money Laundering Regulations came into force December 2007.The regulation includes appointing a Nominated Officer, whose role is to check the identity of customers and keeping all relevant documents. The firm must report any suspicious activity to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). If the business is covered by money laundering regulations it must have the following controls in place to prevent it from being used for money laundering, these include Assessing the risk of your business being used by criminals to launder money Checking the identity of your customers and clients Checking the identity of beneficial owners o f corporate bodies and partnerships Monitoring your customers business a activities and reporting anything suspicious to the serious organised crime agency Ensuring you have necessary management control systems in place Keeping all documents that relate to financial transactions, the identity of your customers, risk assessment and management procedures and process Making sure that your employees are aware of the regulations and have the necessary training If an employee in your business knows or suspects that another is money laundering or assisting financial terrorism, they must inform the Nominated Officer. The Nominated Officer must review the information received and decide if it needs to b reported to the SOCA. Once the officer has reasonable and sufficient evidence to suspect money laundering they must report it to the SOCA at the earliest possible opportunity. There are three notions of money laundering Placement where money is exchanged from criminal act ivities then placed in a financial institution, invested in assets or commodities. Layering this is the first attempt at disguising or concealing of the source of the ownership of the funds. Integration the stage at which the money is integrated into legitimate economic and financial system and is assimilated with all other assets in the system. Regardless of the crime, money launderers resort to placement, layering, and integration in the process of turning illicit proceeds into apparently legal monies or goods (Schott, 2006,p.1-7) Yorkshire Bank has failed to comply with the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 (MLR 2007). The systems and controls in place are not sufficient and adequate. The Risk Sensitive policies and procedures have not been implemented in order to prevent and detect criminals from laundering money at Yorkshire Bank. The FSA will instigate proceedings for the breaches and failure to implement procedures and therefore will conclude to a criminal offe nce MLR 2007. As a result of this offence Yorkshire bank will be sanctioned, fined, imprisonment or both. Yorkshire Bank has also committed an offence against the Data Protection Act 1998; the inaccurate information was loaded on the banking system database. The system, controls and the Data Controller failed to detect the incorrect information given by the clients. Yorkshire Bank must inform the Data Commissioner that an infringement has occurred of the terms of the act. The Commissioner will issue one of two types of notice to the data controller: An information notice, which requires the Data Controller to specify the steps that Yorkshire Bank will comply with the Act, or Enforcement notices this requires Yorkshire bank either to take some specified action or to refrain from certain activities. The enforcement powers of the Commissioner include the authority to prosecute the Data Controller who fails to comply with the information or enforcement. The maximum penalty f or these offences is  £5,000 unless the case goes to the crown court, in which there is no possible fine. The Terrorism Act 2000 includes money laundering; it was the duty of the employee to report the customer to the Constabulary that a person has committed a terrorist offence. Failing to report the suspicion and information in the course of trade, business, profession or employment is a criminal offence. A person found guilty of failing to report an offence will face a maximum penalty of six months in jail and/or  £5,000 fine in the magistrates court and five years in jail and/or an unlimited fine in the Crown Court. It was not just a matter of consolidation but also an expansion to make it truly all crimes legislation without a de minimus limit. The money laundering provisions of this Act and those of the Terrorism Act are, for practical purposes, identical and were drawn up so as to cover the appropriate requirement of the EU Directives (Hopton, 2009, P.41) Finally the bank employee violated the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002; all three principles were ignored and violated. The onus was on the employee in the interest of the public and society to report the offences, as a failure to report the criminal offence the sentence is fourteen years. I regret to say we can not see enough evidence for the defence. The Proceeds of Crime Act (Act) extends provisions about money laundering and crime proceeds in a way that could, in a few cases, create practical issues for regulated financial firms and for the Financial Ombudsman Services. https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/29/29-crimeact.htm Accessed 07 January 2011 The advice given in this report is strictly confidential and is the property of Peter Bloomfield. The legal advice is provided in each tasks and keys issue the firm has, that need resolving legally. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Overview On Guidelines Of The Financial Services Authority Finance Essay" essay for you Create order