FSA dishes out record fines
THE number of UK firms failing to meet financial regulatory requirements is at record levels, according to reseach by accountants BDO Stoy Hayward.
Analysis of fines issued by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for the first 10 months of this year shows that the level of fines has quadrupled to total figure for 2007 from £5.3m to £10.5m – a staggering 287%.
The research also found that the FSA doled out £7.2m in fines compared to the year before when it issued 23 fines to both companies and individuals totalling £5.3m.
Fiona Raistrick, head of the financial services regulatory practice, at BDO Stoy Hayward said: “Time and time again we see individuals and companies being fined by the FSA for failing to meet regulatory requirements.
“The penalties being levied by the FSA continue to increase as they take a tougher stance on enforcement in line with their overall policy of imposing higher penalties to achieve credible deterrence.”
She added that it was imperiative that companies focused on making sure their internal controls were sufficient to mitigate their risks.
“The UK is one of the most highly regulated countries in the world and that the level of regulation is only set to increase,” said Ms Raistrick.
“Having the essential controls in place to prevent these problems in the first place is not rocket science, it just requires a thorough risk assessment and evaluation of the supporting control framework.”
