John Tiner said: “The new structure, which builds on the many successful characteristics of our present organisation and embraces a risk-based approach, will enable more delegation of responsibility, speed of action and focus on the critical issues and will make it easier for firms and consumers to do business with us. It will also position us to effectively handle the many thousands of new regulated firms who will fall within our remit when the mortgage and general insurance regimes are introduced in late 2004 and early 2005 respectively.
"We also need to ensure that our management structure puts us in the best possible position to achieve our vision of maintaining efficient, orderly and clean financial markets and helping retail consumers achieve a fair deal”.
The new management structure, which will be introduced from April 2004, will have three new Business Units, each headed by a Managing Director who will be a member of the FSA Board, and sector leaders who will have specific responsibilities for industry sectors and issues across the FSA. The units will be:
- Regulatory Services which will provide a range of services to consumers, existing firms and firms seeking authorisation, as well as meeting the FSA’s own operational requirements. The Unit will be responsible for processing, validating and warehousing data received from firms and the delivery of such data to supervisors.
- Retail Markets which will have overall responsibility for the FSA’s extensive consumer agenda and regulation of firms or groups whose business is predominantly at the retail (as opposed to wholesale) end of the market. These will include insurers, the high street banks, building societies, and mortgage lenders and retail intermediaries. The Unit will also be responsible for conduct of business reforms in the retail market and for our work on financial capability and relationships with the Financial Ombudsman Service.
- Wholesale and Institutional Markets which will focus on the regulation of all ‘regulated markets’, the related infrastructure such as clearing and settlement, the operation of the listing rules and regulation of firms or groups which conduct primarily wholesale or institutional market business between professionals. It will also develop and maintain prudential policies which apply across all regulated firms, and conduct of business standards specific to wholesale and institutional markets.
A number of directors who will sit within the structure described above will also have cross- FSA responsibilities for defined sectors or issues. These sector leaders will cover: banking, capital markets, asset management, insurance, retail intermediaries, financial stability and business continuity, consumers and financial crime. Their role will be:
- to ensure that issues relevant to their sector which poses risks to the FSA’s objectives, are identified and resolved on a timely basis;
- to ensure that the FSA is developing the depth and breadth of sector specific expertise among its people; and
- to represent the FSA in its dealings with the wide range of external parties concerning their sector.
Three other significant changes will see the Enforcement Division reporting directly to John Tiner, the formation of a new Finance, Strategy and Risk Division also reporting to John Tiner and a new legislative policy unit in the General Counsel’s Division which will have specific responsibilities for streamlining and improving accessibility to the FSA Handbook.
The High Street Firms Division will remain in its current form with its existing responsibilities until the first quarter of 2005. Thereafter, its functions will migrate into the relevant Business Units.
Michael Foot, currently Managing Director of the Deposit Takers and Markets Directorate, decided some months ago that he would not be seeking a further term when his contract expires on 31 May 2004. However, he will become an advisor to the FSA working closely with Callum McCarthy (FSA Chairman) and John Tiner.
