FCA Handbook — COBS (Conduct of Business)
Conduct of business rules for investment business: client categorisation, suitability, disclosure, best execution.
- Issued by
- Financial Conduct Authority
- Applies in
- United Kingdom
- Edition
- Current, as published
- Area
- Conduct & prudential
What an assessor reads first.
The headline requirements in Amoreg’s catalogue, in the issuer’s own numbering where it has one. They are where a review starts, not a transcription of the text.
- COBS 3Client categorisationClients
- COBS 4Communicating with clients and financial promotionsCommunications
- COBS 9ASuitabilityAdvice
- COBS 10AAppropriatenessAdvice
- COBS 11Best execution and order handlingDealing
- COBS 16AReporting to clientsReporting
How Amoreg keeps you on it.
Enable the FCA Handbook — COBS (Conduct of Business) and add Financial Conduct Authority’s pages as a monitor of your own. Every publication it records keeps its source, stage and date.
Inspector reads your policies against these 6 requirements every week and opens a finding wherever one falls short, citing the rule and drafting the fix. A person decides what is applied.
Each week
- Read Financial Conduct Authority’s pages
- Check the library against 6 requirements
- Open findings with drafted fixes
- Wait for a person to decide
Policy does not yet set out: client categorisation
- Rule
- FCA Handbook — COBS (Conduct of Business), COBS 3
- Area
- Clients
- Proposed by
- Inspector
- Decided by
- A named person, once reviewed
The same ground, elsewhere.
- MiFID II / MiFIRInvestor protection, product governance, transparency and transaction reporting for investment firms.European Union · 6 controls
- Central Bank of Ireland — Individual Accountability Framework & SEARSenior Executive Accountability Regime, conduct standards and enhanced fitness and probity.Ireland · 4 controls
- FINRA Rules for Broker-DealersFINRA conduct, supervision, AML, business continuity, customer account, reporting and account-transfer rules for member broker-dealers, including self-clearing carrying firms.United States · 9 controls
- SEC Regulation Best Interest & Form CRSBest-interest standard for broker-dealer recommendations to retail customers and the Form CRS relationship summary.United States · 7 controls
- SEC Broker-Dealer Financial Responsibility & Customer ProtectionSEC net capital, customer protection reserve and custody, books and records, financial reporting and early-warning rules for carrying broker-dealers, with SIPA membership and SIPC disclosure.United States · 8 controls
- SEC & FINRA Trading, Best Execution & Market AccessRegulation SHO short-sale rules, Regulation NMS execution and routing disclosure, market access controls, best execution, Consolidated Audit Trail reporting and trade confirmations for broker-dealers.United States · 8 controls
Also in United Kingdom
- UK Money Laundering Regulations 2017The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017.United Kingdom · 8 controls
- JMLSG GuidanceHM Treasury-approved guidance the courts must consider — the practical standard for UK financial sector AML.United Kingdom · 6 controls
- Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Part 7)The money laundering offences, the regulated-sector duty to report, and the DAML consent regime.United Kingdom · 4 controls
- UK Sanctions Regime (SAMLA 2018 / OFSI)The Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 regulations and OFSI reporting, licensing and enforcement expectations.United Kingdom · 5 controls
- Legal Sector Affinity Group AML GuidanceHM Treasury-approved guidance for law firms and independent legal professionals under the MLR 2017.United Kingdom · 5 controls
- CCAB AML Guidance for the Accountancy SectorAMLGAS — the approved guidance for accountants, auditors, tax advisers and insolvency practitioners.United Kingdom · 5 controls
Questions
Does Amoreg watch for changes to the FCA Handbook — COBS (Conduct of Business)?
Enable it and add the issuer’s pages as a monitor of your own. Every publication the Monitor records keeps its source, stage and date.
Can Amoreg check our policies against the FCA Handbook — COBS (Conduct of Business)?
Yes. Inspector reads your library against its requirements every week and opens a finding, with the rule it cites and a proposed fix, wherever a policy falls short. A person decides what is applied.
Which edition does Amoreg use?
The current edition as published by the issuer, last verified in August 2026; the Monitor records new publications as they appear.