FSA chairman Callum McCarthy wrote a letter to the Prime Minister in June detailing his disappointment over comments Blair had made in a speech, accusing the FSA of ‘strangling’ respectable businesses.
McCarthy’s letter detailed the FSA’s anger over the comments, saying they would damage the regulator’s influence and called for the Prime Minister to justify his criticisms.
A request by national newspaper The Independent under the Freedom of Information Act for Blair’s letter to be published has been rejected by the FSA.
In a letter to The Independent, the regulator said: “For the FSA to discharge its functions effectively, the FSA ought to have an open and uninhibited relationship with government. The public disclosure of the Prime Minister’s letter has the potential to harm the quality of this inter-relationship.
“Any differences of opinion in the exchanges could be exploited for political, commercial or personal purposes and exchanges between the government and the FSA may become guarded as a result. This could adversely impact on the FSA’s ability to achieve its statutory objectives and on the government’s development of policy.”
Kevin Morgan, managing director of Consilium Financial Planning, said: “I’m not surprised the FSA is reluctant to disclose the letter’s content. I can’t imagine the Prime Minister apologised for his comments.
“If you’re looking at openness and transparency, which is what the FSA want us to exercise, then it should do the same. The FSA is a public body.”
Rob McIvor, spokesperson at the FSA, said: “If you are a public body, you have relationships with other bodies which have to be based on mutual trust. We do ask for transparency from those we regulate but we don’t extend this by publishing confidential material.”
