An analysis of compliance officer: Attitudes towards insider dealing

Influenced by the work of Edwin Sutherland and followers, this case study focuses upon the attitudes of the Compliance Officers employed by the British financial services industry in the aftermath of the Financial Services Act of 1986. The Act sought to provide an all-embracing series of rules for the conduct of investment business, pollced by specially appointed officials. A survey of Compliance Officers establishes that there is considerable similarity in viewpoints between officers and practitioners. The Officers have weak positions in their organisations and do not appear likely to provide a sufficient degree of regulatory oversight to enable insider dealing to be efficiently detected, investigated and prosecuted.