FSA calls for UK to work with European regulators
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Hector Sants, chief executive of the Financial Services Authority, says the new regulator must embrace the European regulatory environment if it is to succeed.
Speaking at the FSA’s Annual Public Meeting today, Sants says we are entering a period of substantial change in the European regulatory environment and it is vitally important that the UK fully engages with these changes.
He says: “We must recognise that going forward, particularly in respect of supervision, the national entities will increasingly become an arm of European policy and thus, effective engagement with the European agencies is absolutely critical.
“As I have said in the past, the key issue is ensuring we have the right quality of people, the right culture and the right regulatory philosophy. Achieving these goals will be a challenge, particularly since we are likely to be making these changes against the backdrop of a fragile marketplace. However, I am confident we will succeed.”
He adds that as we move out of this crisis there will be calls for regulators to revert to light touch regulation and senior management will be less willing to listen to a regulator who could be seen to be second guessing’management.
He says: “When this happens it is vitally important that regulators stand their ground and continue to be proactive, but this will require that they are supported by government and society as a whole.”
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