The Financial Services Practitioner Panel (the Panel) has welcomed the FSA's paper entitled: Principles-based Regulation - Focusing on the Outcomes that Matter.
Roy Leighton, Chairman of the Panel, said:
"As our 2006 survey highlighted, the industry has been calling for the FSA to provide greater clarity about what it meant when it talked about Principles-based Regulation; what it expected of regulated firms in that context; and what firms could expect from the FSA. At the strategic level, this document provides a helpful framework and focus for senior management to drive this shift in emphasis forward within their firms.
"This is an ambitious undertaking for all concerned. But one which the Panel feels the FSA is right to take on. It has set itself and the industry a significant challenge which both parties must grasp and be determined to deliver in the manner intended. The potential benefits of doing so are significant.
"There are some sceptics within the industry who remain to be convinced about the FSA's willingness and capability to fulfil its side of the bargain. But with good communication, investment in its people and infrastructure, we hope that the FSA can prove those doubters wrong. The Panel believes that it can, and we will work with the FSA – and the industry – as the practical aspects of Principles-based Regulation continue to be developed; and as practitioners engage with and experience its impact in practice."
Notes for editors
The Financial Services Practitioner Panel was established under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to represent the interests of practitioners and is independent of the FSA. Members are drawn from regulated institutions and market users at a senior level. The Panel was set up in November 1998 (as the Practitioner Forum) and became a statutory body in June 2001.
Further information on the role, work and membership of the Panel is available on its website: www.fs-pp.org.uk
The FSA's website address is: www.fsa.gov.uk.