The Practitioner
“WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH…THE FSA MEANS BUSINESS!”
Margaret Cole’s “How enforcement makes a difference” speech at the Financial Services Authority (FSA) Enforcement Conference in June 2008, makes interesting reading for both the compliance lawyer and criminal litigator alike. In her speech the director of enforcement set out her stall for the future of FSA enforcement, in short the FSA “means business”. While her supervisory colleagues may name initiatives with catchy titles such as TCF (treating customers fairly), Cole refers to “credible deterrence”.
Despite various thematic reviews, guidance and speeches on improving behaviour in the financial services industry, it is still the FSA’s assessment that behaviour across both the retail and wholesale sectors has not improved sufficiently and there are still real threats to consumers and risks of market misconduct.
By achieving credible deterrence, the FSA believes that it will reform such behaviour. The director stated: “So we have to be ready, willing and able to do enough cases of the right sort to get the right outcomes, to get the message out to firms
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