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COBS - Client Categorisation

The Conduct of Business Sourcebook (COBS) applies to financial firms in the UK that deal with client investments. COBS rules cover client categorisation.

Client categorisation is based on the client's level of sophistication. This classification determines the degree of regulatory protection the client is entitled to and the types of investment products they can be offered. 

Our COBS for Client Categorisation Course explains the FCA Conduct of Business Rules for client categorisation in the investment business.
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  • 20 Minutes
  • All staff
  • Based on UK legislation, but suitable for global audiences upon the removal of UK-specific references and translation as necessary.

Learning objectives

  • Appreciate why we categorise clients
  • Recognise different client categories
  • Recognise the criteria and procedure by which certain clients can opt for re-categorisation
  • Identify and apply the record-keeping requirements

    What can you expect your employees to learn?

Welcome

What is COBS - Client Categorisation?

Why is it critical to categorise clients correctly?

Retail clients

Professional clients

  • Elective professionals
  • Exercise: Elective professionals

Eligible counterparties

Professionals opting down to retail

Exercise: Client categorisation

Client agreement

Record keeping


Summary
Affirmation
Assessment

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Your questions, answered

Financial Crime

Common FAQs

How can I log and track incidents of financial crime in my organisation?

Our Compliance Breach Register allows you to securely log and monitor incidents of financial crime, such as bribery or money laundering. The tool enables you to track resolution progress and maintain a clear audit trail, ensuring accountability and compliance with regulatory requirements.

How can I ensure my employees understand and comply with our internal policies in relation to financial crime?

Our Policy Hub enables you to distribute policies such as your Anti-Money Laundering (AML) policy to employees, track acknowledgements, and send automated reminders. This ensures everyone understands their obligations and helps you maintain compliance with financial crime regulations.
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Yes. This means they can be delivered via the Skillcast Portal or any other SCORM-compliant Learning Management System.

What other tools are needed beyond training?

A comprehensive compliance solution often needs more than just training. Alongside e-learning, tools like declarations, surveys, and registers that track compliance tasks are usually essential. Skillcast provides full support to help you set up these additional tools.

Is our training content still compliant with the latest legislation?

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How can I give employees a secure way to record suspicious activity so we can act quickly?

Our Suspicious Activity Register allows staff to log concerns or irregularities they observe, helping you detect potential issues early. The secure register can be reviewed by compliance teams, enabling prompt investigation and action.

What file types are supported by the Skillcast system?

Features

Supported file types and details

File Exchange

File types: PDF, Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, SCORM and xAPI files, and compressed zip files. Max file size: Default is 1GB, can be increased to a max of 2GB

SCORM files

Versions: SCORM 1.2, SCORM 1.2 for Moodle, SCORM 2004 2nd, 3rd and 4th Edition. Max file size: 1024MB

xAPI file

Max file size: 2GB

Videos

File types: MP4 or MOV. Videos must be optimised, with a max file size of 100MB. If the file is bigger, our Design Team can help

Images

File types: jpg, png and gif. The file size should ideally be 100KB, but it can be up to 250KB

CPD evidence

File types: Word, PDF, Excel and CSV. File size: the limit should be whatever the portal config option is set to. Servers are set to max 2GB

Policy documents

PDF or Word File size: the limit should be whatever the portal config option is set to. Servers are set to max 2GB

Offline activities evidence

File types: PDF, DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, CSV, PNG, GIF, JPEG, JPG, PPTX and MSG. File size: the limit should be whatever the portal config option is set to. Servers are set to max 2GB

Client logo files

File types provided by client: EPS, PDF, AI and SVG

Registers

PDF, DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, CSV, PPT, PPTX, POT, PPA, PPS, JPG, JPEG, PJEPG, PNG, BMP, GIF, MP4, MOV, WMV, CPTX, CP, TXT, ZIP and MSG files

Declarations

JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF, XLS and XLSX files

 

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