Seeking guidance… on guidance

In November last year FSA set out its plans to encourage greater use of industry guidance. In this article, Angharad Smith and Emma Radmore of Denton Wilde Sapte look at the proposals in DP 06/5 and recent trends in the move towards a more principles-based approach to regulation. They also look at some potential problems with non-Handbook and non-regulator-driven guidance.

Emma Radmore is a senior solicitor and professional support lawyer and Angharad Smith is a solicitor in the Financial Markets and Regulation Group at DentonWildeSapte. Contact them on emma.radmore@dentonwildesapte.com or +44 (0) 20 7246 7206 or angharad.smith@dentonwildesapte.com or +44 (0) 20 7246 7455.

What is Industry Guidance?

The FSA defines ‘industry guidance’ as “Information created, developed, and freely issued by a person or body, other than the FSA, which is intended to provide guidance from the body concerned to the industry about the provisions of our Handbook.”