Financial
Services Authority Company Information ( FSA )
About
The Financial Services Authority Company ( FSA )
The Financial Services Authority ( FSA ) is an independent
non-governmental body, given statutory powers by the Financial Services
and Markets Act 2000.
The
FSA are a company limited by guarantee and financed by the financial
services industry. Her Majesty’s Treasury appoints our Board,
consisting of a Chairman, a Chief Executive Officer, three Managing
Directors, and 11 non-executive directors (including a lead non-executive
member, the Deputy Chairman).
Their
Board sets their overall policy, but day-to-day decisions and management
of the staff are the responsibility of the Executive.
Objectives
The Financial Services and Markets Act gives them four statutory
objectives:
- market
confidence: maintaining confidence in the financial system;
- public
awareness: promoting public understanding of the financial system;
- consumer
protection: securing the appropriate degree of protection for
consumers; and
- reduction
of financial crime: reducing the extent to which it is possible
for a business carried on by a regulated person to be used for
a purpose connected with financial crime.
These are supported by a set of principles of good regulation which
they must consider when achieving the objectives:
- using
resources in the most economic and efficient way;
- the
responsibilities of those who manage the affairs of authorised
persons;
- being
proportionate in imposing burdens or restrictions on the industry;
- facilitating
innovation;
- taking
into account the international character of financial services
and the UK’s competitive position; and
- not
impeding or distorting competition unnecessarily.
The objectives:
- provide
political and public accountability - their annual report contains
an assessment of their achievement against them. Scrutiny of the
FSA by Parliamentary Committees may focus on how they achieve
their objectives. They are the goals against which their performance
will be judged;
- govern
the way FSA carry out their general functions eg rule-making,
giving advice and guidance, and determining their general policy
and principles. So, for example, they are under a duty to show
how the draft rules they publish relate to their statutory objectives;
- provide
legal accountability: where they interpret the objectives wrongly,
or fail to consider them, they can be challenged in the courts
through judicial review.
The
Financial Services Authority
25 The North Colonnade
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5HS
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