SIFA 11.2 Complaints reporting to the FSA

You will need to send in a complaints return: unless your firm only conducts business with clients that are not eligible complainants (which, as a small personal investment firm, would be very unlikely).

We collect complaints data to assist us in monitoring firms and their regulatory compliance.

You must send a return to us twice each year. The reporting periods are:

• the six months immediately following a firm's accounting reference date; and
• the six months immediately preceding a firm's accounting reference date.

Returns have to be sent to us within 30 business days of the end of the relevant reporting period.

All firms will have to collect complaint data in the new reporting format from 1 April 2005. However, we only expect firms to submit complaints data to us electronically from 1 July 2005. This means that data for the period 1 April 2005 to 30 June 2005 should be included in a firm's first return after 1 July 2005.

The returns will be submitted via the Firms Online system within 30 business days of the reporting period end date. Complaints returns are not part of the Retail Mediation Activities Return (RMAR) but will be submitted in the same way. The format of the return may be found at DISP 1 Annex 1 R.

• The returns are in a grid format that allows analysis of complaints by product and complaint type. There are separate returns for private individual complaints and small business complaints.
• The returns also require information covering all customers of: the number of complaints considered, complaints upheld, complaints referred to the FOS, complaints resolved (and the time taken), outstanding complaints and the amount of redress paid.