The end of the beginning

Timon Molloy • Editor

Announced by the Chancellor four and a half years ago, it was followed by the most amended Bill in Parliamentary history and, at the time of writing, some 115 consultation papers. With a Handbook of rules and guidance spanning 3,000 pages to cover the aegis of the ten mainly self-regulatory bodies that it replaces, the Financial Services Authority is now empowered to regulate almost everything that moves in UK financial services. Whether the industry is ready for statutory regulation, however, is quite another matter.