This survey, which is carried out every two years, is aimed at gathering industry views on the FSA and establishing a track record of the regulator's performance.
Previous surveys have achieved a high response rate, providing robust feedback from the financial services industry. The Panel is particularly pleased to note that in the past the survey's results have been taken on board in a positive manner by the FSA and have had a considerable impact on front-line FSA policy decision making and its regulatory operation generally. Three major issues that emerged from the 2002 survey – the increasing cost of regulation, the inaccessibility of the FSA Handbook and the lack of informal guidance - have since received an encouraging response from the FSA and are now prioritised more appropriately on the regulatory agenda.
As before, the survey, to be conducted by NOP Financial, will be divided into qualitative and quantitative stages. The qualitative phase, involving a series of interviews with senior FSA staff, Panel members and a sample of senior staff from a cross-section of regulated firms, will commence shortly. This will provide useful feedback in itself, but will also be used to help identify issues for inclusion in the quantitative questionnaire that will be sent to around 10,000 practitioner firms of all sizes and types in the summer.
The Panel plans to publish the final report findings later in 2004. It will use the information to:
-inform the advice it gives the FSA about how the regulator's activities and approach could be improved from the practitioner point of view;
-report on developments in the regulatory regime;
-monitor the continuing international competitiveness of the UK’s financial services industry.
Jonathan Bloomer, Chairman of the Panel, said: "The period since the last survey in 2002 has been eventful for the financial services sector. This survey will give the regulated community a valuable opportunity to have their say about the FSA's performance and suggest improvements going forward. It will also give the Panel a timely insight into the issues of greatest significance to the industry. This will help us engage in constructive dialogue with the regulator at a time of further change within the FSA. I strongly urge firms to take part in this important piece of work."
