Over regulation the FSA way

The FSA have been widely criticised for their role in the financial crisis especially in failing to see the problems at Northern Rock and RBS.

Fintag explains what the problem may be

One of the reasons I want to leave the UK is the FSA. I was fined yesterday (and I take this personally because its my income they are stealing). I didn't get an FSA return in on time. Its FSA018a Pillar 1 or something. We used to send in quarterly returns. And then one at the year end. There were 2 return templates and it took 10 minutes for them to be printed out from our Sage 50 accounting system. Now someone has to type them in to a website and remember to do so which is often when the moon is full and Big Ben has struck 13.

It will be remembered that regulation was taken from the Bank of England on its independence back in the heady days of 1997.

Fintag continues

In this new world of over regulation, we now have nearly 50 reports to complete on line. Most are not applicable but you have to verify just in case. Our compliance legal team have to check radio buttons and fill in fields to questions like "Do you have PI?" or "How much capital have you put aside in case there is an earthquake?".

Now renmind me who was responsible for this.....Ah Yes it was Ed Balls now in charge of children