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Financial Services Authority (financial + services_authority)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	100%

Selected Abstracts

THE REGULATION OF LIFE ASSURERS IN A LOW SOLVENCY ENVIRONMENT: THE UK EXPERIENCE

ECONOMIC AFFAIRS, Issue 3 2003
Chris O'Brien
When adverse financial conditions mean that many life assurers have sharply reduced solvency levels, a number of new issues arise for regulators, including the basic issue of how solvency is measured. There are also issues about life assurers' investments, and their products and how they are priced. Lastly, the regulator (in the UK, the Financial Services Authority) needs to ensure that customers and their advisers have suitable information about the solvency of the firms they are dealing with. [source]

A Review of the Review

FINANCIAL MARKETS, INSTITUTIONS & INSTRUMENTS, Issue 5 2005
By Howard Davies
In 1997 a process started to review the 1988 Basel I Accord, which ultimately led to the Basel II Accord of June 2004. In this paper Sir Howard Davies, Director of the London School of Economics and Former Chairman of the Financial Services Authority, provides an analysis of this review process. Several issues related to the complexity and implementability of the Accord are discussed. Although the author thinks that Basel II has many appealing aspects (such as the three-pillar framework), he argues that the outcome is very complicated, it took a very long time, and needs to be adapted in ways not originally envisaged. He calls for a "Review of the Review" to see what lessons can be learnt from the review process which might be helpful for the future. [source]

The New Accountancy Foundation: A Credible Form of Regulation for UK Listed Company Audit?

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AUDITING, Issue 3 2002
Ian P Dewing
This paper considers the new system of regulation of the accountancy profession in the UK, based on the Accountancy Foundation. It explores how the system compares with: principles of regulation produced by the Better Regulation Task Force and National Consumer Council; stakeholder perceptions on the nature of an independent regulatory body for UK listed company audit; new and emerging developments arising from the review of competition in professions by the Office of Fair Trading; recommendations of the Company Law Review Steering Group and establishment of the Financial Services Authority; and, events set in train in the UK as a result of the collapse of Enron in the US. The paper concludes it is ironic that the new system, enthusiastically endorsed so recently by government, should be called into question so fundamentally, and so rapidly, by events outside its jurisdiction. [source]

Consumer empowerment: global context, UK strategies and vulnerable consumers

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSUMER STUDIES, Issue 4 2008
Carol Brennan
Abstract Globalization has created new consumer needs and wants, and resulted in consumer confusion regarding the increasing complexity of products and services. This has stimulated global interest in educating and empowering consumers. The UK government has made a very ambitious commitment to ensure that the framework for consumer empowerment and support is at the level of the best in the world by 2008. The government, many consumer organizations and regulators believe that empowered consumers are key to the success of competitive markets. Two national strategies to co-ordinate activities in the UK have been developed by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The OFT consumer education strategy aims to deliver targeted, effective consumer education by increasing co-ordination and making the best use of available resources. The FSA is leading a financial capability strategy designed to deliver change to improve the UK's financial capability. Both strategies share a vision of educated and confident consumers making informed choices about the products and services they buy, and both aim to empower vulnerable consumers. Given the global interest and the development of national strategies, it is useful to consider what is meant by the term consumer empowerment. Is there a shared view of consumer empowerment internationally? Does the education of consumers result in empowered consumers? To what extent do the national strategies address the empowerment of vulnerable, disadvantaged, excluded or susceptible consumers? These questions will be addressed in this article which reviews the global context for the consumer education and empowerment agenda and considers key UK developments, with particular reference to the needs of vulnerable consumers. The study found that the language of consumer empowerment is gaining prominence in policy and strategy documents at the highest levels internationally in the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Community, and nationally in the UK. [source]