Financial regulation in the United Kingdom is a fickle and convoluted mess of various agencies, bureaucracies and committees.

As of now, regulation is divided into three departments:

  1. The Bank of England,
  2. The Financial Services Authority, and
  3. The Treasury.

These three departments regulate various facets of British financial life, however they do not all hold the same amounts or types of power.

Chief among them is the Financial Services Authority (FSA) which has the legal form of a company and was incorporated in 1985. It is technically independent, pseudo-judicial and nongovernmental body, whose board is appointed in turn by the Treasury.

There are four main objectives which the FSA has imposed upon it by the great forces of the law.

  1. Raising public awareness of financial issues,
  2. Maintaining consumer confidence in the financial system,
  3. Protecting the interests of consumers and companies,
  4. Reducing financial crime through regulation.

The FSA was given their statutory powers over the United Kingdom’s financial regulation through the Financial Services and Markets Act 200, and the board of the FSA is appointed by the treasury.

The FSA has a wide scope of operations and according to their very own website, fsa.gov.uk , they regulate most of the markets, exchanges, and the firms. In fact, the London Stock Exchange has to abide by the regulations set by the FSA, since the LSE is seen as a “recognized investment exchange.” That is straight from the mouth of the LSE at londonstockexchange.

The FSA regulates other sectors of the financial world in the UK, including aspects of banking and much of consumer credit and insurance. They therefore regulate almost entirely every aspect of the UK’s finances, but must still answer to the higher powers of the Treasury and other government forces.

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