A CASS Resolution Pack (see here) is a depository of records and documentation relating to a firm holding safe custody assets and client money currently with reference to CASS 7 & 6, respectively. Under the proposed changes to the safeguarding regime under CP24/20, CASS 10 has been extended to safeguarding institutions when they receive or hold relevant funds in accordance with CASS 15 under the CASS 10A chapter.
The purpose of creating and maintaining a CASS Resolution Pack is to provide readily available and accurate documentation that will assist an insolvency practitioner in locating, distributing, and transferring client money, safe custody assets, and relevant funds quickly and accurately following firm failure.
As detailed below, we consider some of the requirements under both CASS 10 & CASS 10A.
Records and documents must be accurate & complete:
- Any inaccuracy within the Resolution Pack should be corrected promptly and within five business days after the change of circumstances arose.
- Updates must be communicated to the appropriate team or person, likely Compliance or CASS Oversight, who will make the updates across the relevant documentation.
- Regular testing should be performed to independently assess the completeness of the CASS Resolution Pack structure, including a review of the rules referenced in the master sheet.
- The factual content of the documents and evidence in the respective sections should be reviewed and challenged alongside the underlying requirements determined to be applicable (or not) to the firm’s business model.
The CASS Resolution Pack must be appropriate and fit for purpose:
- At a minimum, an annual assessment will assess the adequacy and appropriateness of documents and evidence referenced to or embedded within the CASS Resolution Pack.
- The annual assessment is reported at a board/ governing body level, typically by the person who holds responsibility for CASS Oversight as described within CASS 1A(and CASS 15.2.2 (within the new interim rules within Chapter 15).
Documents within the CASS Resolution Pack must be capable of retrieval and accessible within certain deadlines:
- Depending on the specific documentation within the CASS Resolution Pack, retrieval must be possible immediately or within 48 hours of being requested.
- The 48-hour period includes non-working days.
- The 48-hour period allows for retrieval only and should not be used to produce/create the relevant documentation.
- Details of the institutes that hold and receive relevant funds for the firm, acknowledgement letters and most recent client money and safeguarding reconciliations are examples of documents that require immediate retrieval.
Notwithstanding some differences between the documentation expected to be held in a resolution pack under CASS 10 for custody assets and client money compared to relevant funds under CASS 10A, the content of both packs is broadly consistent, including:
- A master document to support retrievability
- Details of all institutions holding client money, relevant funds and assets (including agents and electronic money distributors of these institutes)
- Institutional due diligence
- Acknowledgement letters
- Insurance and guarantees
- Third parties performing operational functions
- Policy and procedures
- Critical staff details including role, responsibilities and contact information
- CASS Operational Oversight contact details
- Customer contracts
- Client Money, Custody and Safeguarding reconciliations
Given the breadth of documentation described above, the CASS Resolution Pack is a comprehensive document assembled from multiple data, information, records, reconciliations and content that exists elsewhere within a firm’s CASS & Safeguarding business and operating model.
The essential requirement is to ensure these documents are maintained, up-to-date, and accessible. Designated, accountable responsibility is critical, not only from a gone-concern perspective, should the firm fail, but also serves as a valuable benchmark to assess a going concern firm’s position around its CASS obligations. The CASS Resolution Pack is therefore an accurate benchmark or means of assessment of a firm’s level of CASS maturity, compliance, and organisational arrangements.
The CASS Resolution Pack, if easily accessed and appropriately accurate, can quickly provide interested 3rd parties, such as the FCA, an insight into how the firm governs itself and the degree to which it’s compliant with the CASS obligations and general regulatory compliance.
Grath software solutions offer a comprehensive CASS Resolution Pack solution, integrating the underlying documentation, controls, processes, and evidence specified throughout the CASS 10 & CASS 10A chapters that, when aggregated, can be served to accountable owners through a digitised master document, capable of real-time sign-off and approval, reporting and testing, ensuring the CASS
Resolution Pack always remains practical, accessible and accurate.
If you’d like to find out how Grath helps its customers to map and embed the CASS Resolution pack, contact our team to learn more about how Grath can help you manage regulatory compliance obligations, including an existing CASS Resolution Pack or as a Payments Firm, the new requirements under CASS 15 & CASS 10A.
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