The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has published its latest Quarterly Consultation Paper (No. 23) CP 10/1

Although amendments in the quarterly consultations normally tend to be minor, it is however always advisable for a firms own compliance or other specialist professionals dealing with regulatory matters to keep an eye on these consultations in case there are any amendments that might have a significant impact on aspects of business, or proposed business developments, of particular sensitivity or relevance to their firm.

The 80-page paper of miscellaneous Handbook amendments may be of interest to:-

Simon Kuun ran MFP Group Plc (MFP), a financial planning firm in Bromsgrove, but an FSA investigation in 2008 found that he lacked the honesty and integrity expected of an approved person. He was fined £50,000.

The case was then referred to the Financial Services and Markets Tribunal (Tribunal), who upheld the FSA's original findings, but increased the fine to £75,000 as Kuun also lied to the Tribunal when giving evidence.

Kuun first came to the FSA's attention during a supervisory visit to MFP in 2005. He told the FSA that his business had stopped using unapproved and unqualified staff to visit customers. In fact, the opposite was true. He had simply transferred their contracts to a company called Membership Services Limited (MSL), which was registered in the West Indies.

Kuun denied any involvement with the firm, maintaining that MSL was owned and run in Switzerland by an acquaintance called John Graham.

However, an investigation found that Kuun himself was the subscriber who paid for MSL's mailbox address in Switzerland, and that any post addressed to MSL was forwarded back to MFP's office in Bromsgrove.

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So can SMEs benefit from the Balanced Scorecard?

Quite often we find that many of the executives of small and medium-sized businesses may have the impression that the Strategy Map and Balanced Scorecard are just for large corporations. Actually, small and medium-sized businesses may find that Balanced Scorecards are easier for them to implement, and that the returns on investment or time invested is more than repaid in a faster time due to their size and flexibility. This also provides a hugely scalable tool for the business as it grows or develops.

Further consideration of SMEs is that they could actually have even more to gain from Strategy Maps and Scorecards than large organisations, because of the limited resources they have. Smaller companies, especially the 10 to 50 bracket in particular, have to make sure that they focus their efforts, provide better services, and drop projects or developments that aren't aligned with strategy. The entire system is designed to align an organisation around a focus and to easier to identify projects that aren't within that vision.

An obvious benefit for SMEs is that communication and decision-making within them can improve as well. Strategy Maps unencumbered by layers of management and having fewer employees with greater spans of control and understanding make communication easier and faster. Strategic issues can come to light faster when the Balanced Scorecard is incorporated into normal executive or senior management team meetings.

Many SMEs are opportunity-driven. These companies providing high value in growing niches or specialism will see opportunity everywhere. Therefore maintaining a focused strategic direction can be as difficult and as walking a kid through a theme park. This is where a Balanced Scorecard can help.