The budget for the FSA’s mainstream regulatory activities in 2004/05 is £201.6 million, which is 2.2 per cent higher than for 2003/04.
This budget means that in the first three full years since the FSA assumed its full powers its costs will have increased by no more than inflation. Fees for 2004/05 are expected to increase by an average of only 1.5 per cent.
The FSA said key projects would improve the FSA’s regulatory capacity to accommodate the estimated 20,000 new mortgages and general firms coming under its umbrella this year.
Another goal the FSA has set itself is to make the FSA Handbook more accessible to firms.
FSA, chief executive, John Tiner said the introduction of FSA regulation of mortgage business and general insurance brokers will more than double the number of firms the FSA regulates and a smooth and effective transition was a priority.
He said: “As is to be expected, the Business Plan reveals a concentration on many of the patterns of previous years, but the emphasis is changing from policy development to implementation. Fundamental to our approach is working with the forces in the market and intervening only when the market solutions are inadequate in the context of our objectives.”
