The road to better regulation

There has been much talk about better regulation, principles-based regulation and reducing the burden on firms. But where is the regulator in achieving such substantial change? In this extract from a speech given recently by John Tiner, chief executive of the FSA, he details how the FSA is tackling the issues and how the regulator is determined to improve the way it sets rules and communicates with firms in order to fundamentally strengthen the regulatory system.

Better Regulation is clearly a relative term, but relative to what? To what it is today in the UK? To what it is in other countries? To what the politicians need to claim victory? I’ll go with the first with the elaboration that better means three things: (1) a stronger probability that statutory outcomes are secured; (2) lower cost; and (3) more stimulus to competition and innovation. Although our formal responsibilities give primacy to the first of these, in the better regulation context, I see them as mutually exclusive.