SYSC 1.2 Purpose

The purposes of SYSC are:

1. (1)

   to encourage firms' directors and senior managers to take appropriate practical responsibility for their firms' arrangements on matters likely to be of interest to the FSA because they impinge on the FSA's functions under the Act;

2. (2)

   to increase certainty by amplifying Principle 3, under which a firm must take reasonable care to organise and control its affairs responsibly and effectively, with adequate risk management systems; and

3. (3)

   to encourage firms to vest responsibility for effective and responsible organisation in specific directors and senior managers.

The main matters, referred to in SYSC 1.2.1 G (1), which are likely to be of interest to the FSA are those which relate to confidence in the financial system; to the fair treatment of firms' customers; to the protection of consumers; and to the use of the financial system in connection with financial crime. The FSA is not primarily concerned with risks which threaten only the owners of a financial business except in so far as these risks may have an impact on those matters.1