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This paper is based on a talk given by Philip Ryley and John Virgo to the Association of Pension Lawyers at their annual conference in Bournemouth in November 1998. In it the authors provide an outline of some of the key legal issues that have arisen out of the pensions mis‐selling litigation.

This paper is confined to an overview on the disciplinary and appeal procedures contained in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The paper will not deal with market abuse, civil remedies, intervention or criminal prosecutions. It will, however, deal with discipline procedure and the appeal process. It is important to remember, when reading this paper, that the financial services industry still awaits the publication of the draft Enforcement, draft Supervision and draft Authorisation Manuals. The current expected publication date is August 2000. In addition, it is necesssary to distinguish between disciplinary measures affecting individuals and measures affecting businesses. This paper adopts the definitions in the Act and so the use of ‘authorised person’ refers to a business entity, and the use of ‘approved person’ refers to an individual. [Editor's note: A few days after this paper was written the draft Enforcement manual was published. The manual can be viewed at www.fsa.gov.uk.]

In this brief paper the authors consider the duties owed by professional indemnity insurance brokers to their insured clients. Given the prevalence of claims for financial mis‐selling this is an important issue of concern to all authorised advisers. Any failure to obtain or maintain cover leading to uninsured loss will naturally attract the potential attention of the broker’s own insurers. The authors summarise what the law expects of brokers in standard situations.

Section 1(1) of the Financial Services and Markets Act (the Act) provides: ‘the body corporate known as the Financial Services Authority (“the Authority” [the FSA]) is to have the functions conferred on it by or under this Act’.

The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (the Act) establishes extensive investigative powers and disciplinary powers that may be exercised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in certain circumstances. The Act further empowers the FSA to take disciplinary action against approved persons, as well as authorised firms. This paper examines the circumstances in which senior managers may find themselves personally culpable for regulatory breaches and become the subject of disciplinary proceedings.

‘Fitness and propriety’ is a key qualifying condition of authorisation under the Financial Services and Markets Bill. Blandly stated, it is probably uncontroversial as a condition of authorisation. How, in practice, fitness and propriety should be demonstrated to, inquired into and verified by the Financial Services Authority raise more difficult issues. This paper looks at the way in which these practical issues have been addressed by the courts and other regulatory regimes in the past. While past experience does not form a model for future guidance on these topics, it is a useful starting point from which to consider the draft Bill's approach to such matters. Since this paper was written, the Financial Services and Marketing Bill has been amended. The current version can be viewed at: www.parliament.the‐stationery‐office.co.uk

Purpose – To examine the cost-effectiveness of UK government policy with respect to the mitigation of carbon emissions from the transport sector.

Methodology/approach – Existing policy as set out by the Department for Transport in Low Carbon Transport: A Greener Future is examined. This document elaborates a Low Carbon Transport Strategy intended to achieve annual emissions savings of 17.7 MtCO2 by 2020. A wide range of policy areas where further action could be taken to reduce carbon emissions are examined and their cost-effectiveness considered.

Findings – Measures that influence behaviour including smarter choices, eco-driving across modes, freight best practice and modest price increases are highly cost-effective. More cost-effective routes to saving 17.7 MtCO2 are identified, as are further cost-effective savings.

Originality/value – It appears that government targets could be delivered and indeed exceeded at lower cost than the Low Carbon Transport Strategy. However, policy development is influenced by a wide range of factors which help to explain why cost-effective measures are not always fully exploited.

Clearance rates for nonfatal shootings, especially cases involving gang- and drug-related violence, are disturbingly low in many US cities. Using data from a previously completed project in Boston, we explore the prospects for improving gang/drug nonfatal shooting cases by investing the same investigative effort found in similar gang/drug gun murder cases.

Our analyses primarily focus on a sample of 231 nonfatal shootings that occurred in Boston from 2010 to 2014. Logistic regressions are first used to analyze differences in the likelihood of case clearance for gang/drug nonfatal shooting cases relative to other nonfatal shooting cases. Independent samples t-tests are then used to compare the investigative characteristics of these two different kinds of nonfatal shootings. Next, independent samples t-tests are used to compare the investigation of gang/drug gun assaults relative to the investigation of very similar gang/drug gun homicides.

Results demonstrate that the odds of clearing gang/drug nonfatal shootings are 77.2% less likely relative to the odds of clearing nonfatal shootings resulting from other circumstances. This stark difference in clearance rates is not driven by diminished investigative effort, but investigative effort does matter. Relative to gang/drug gun assaults, gang/drug gun homicides have much higher clearance rates that are the result of greater investigative resources and effort that produces significantly more witnesses and evidence, and generate more forensic tests and follow-up investigative actions.

Gang- and drug-related violence generates a bulk of urban nonfatal shootings. Low clearance rates for nonfatal shootings undermine police efforts to hold offenders accountable, disrupt cycles of gun violence, and provide justice to victims. Police should make investments to improve investigative effort such as handling these cases with the same vigor as homicide cases.

As independent travel has become increasingly popular in recent years, factors influencing users’ attitudes and behaviors should be explored. Besides, the rise of video platforms like YouTube, Bilibili and TikTok has led to the flourishing of user generated content (UGC), among which travel vlogs have become convenient and essential references for tourists before and while they travel on their own.

This research used quantitative analysis through a survey designed for young people, as most vlog viewers are in those age groups, to explore the attitudes and perceptions of vlog preference, attitudes and cognizance of travel vlogs among different gender, guided by the decision-making theory and preference theory with 455 participants.

Survey results showed that both genders have common choices regarding travel vlog preference, attitudes, sharing and cognizance. Yet, gender differences appear in some cognition of travel vlogs and specific preferences, such as information searching habits, trusty travel and information sources.

Existing studies focus on the influence of platforms on users, but scant studies focus on user perceptions of vlogs as a new information carrier for young people in East Asia, especially regarding gender differences, which is crucial in media-based marketing. This research provides practical suggestions to marketers and vloggers to attract and engage different genders of young people and theoretical implications on decision and preference theories.