Knight said he strongly believes no network can get away with having less than eight people dedicated specifically to compliance.
He said: “The big test for networks is compliance. Networks now need to be asked how many people they have on their compliance team, what their roles are and whether they are allocated to different departments.
“If they are not, then it is rather worrying. Networks should have compliance people working in different areas to cover all the reporting and systems and controls requirements.”
Knight said PMN currently had 10 people on its compliance team assigned to specific departments.
But Matthew Bright, managing director of Optoma InterPartners, said: “We have six people on our compliance team; a director, two checking files, a trainer and two administrators.
“If you’ve brought on a lot of bad ARs then you will need a lot more management. But if your ARs are well-trained, then you are at less risk.”
Michael Ward, managing director at Enable, said: “We have a company called Three Sixty acting as our compliance service. It is different to the compliance people who are employed by networks like Network Data.
“In terms of how many people are on the team, I don’t know. That is Three Sixty’s responsibility.”
Richard Griffiths, managing director of Network Data Ltd, said the firm had 10 people on its compliance department.
He said: “Compliance is their full-time job. They don’t double up as BDMs like at some other networks.”
Pink Home Loans has appointed a former member of the MCCB’s executive management team to take up a position as compliance controller from 1 January 2005. Kay Leslie will be responsible for all of Pink’s compliance functions.
