The FSA publishes Annual Report for 2001/02

FSA Chairman Howard Davies statement in the Report said:

"Our accounts for 2001/02 show that the overall costs of the FSA have risen only modestly over the last year, excluding the effect of the new responsibilities we have taken on in the last 12 months. Our budget for the current year anticipates a real terms increase of only 0.4%, excluding the additional resources to be devoted to insurance regulation. Over the four years of our existence, budget costs have risen by 10%, while financial sector salaries have risen by 21%. Since around 70% of our costs are staff related, this is a useful measure of the economies of scale we have been able to capture through regulatory integration. Further savings of that kind will be difficult, but we continue to look for more cost-effective ways of delivering regulation."

The Report is presented to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and a copy has been placed today by the Treasury in the library of the House of Commons.

Notes for editors

1. The Report covers the FSA's regulation of financial services firms from 1 December 2001 to 31 March 2002 under the Financial Services and Markets Act. It also covers the FSAs regulation of banks and other financial services firms for which it was responsible during the period 1 April to 30 November 2001.

2. The Annual Report covers the transitional period during which the FSA took on its statutory objectives under the Financial Services and Markets Act and began to operate as a single regulator. As required by the Act, the Report includes an estimation by the FSA of how well it has met its four statutory objectives during the past year and also the FSAs consideration of how it had regard during the year to the principles of good regulation set out in section 2(3) of the FSM Act. The Annual Report also contains, as required by the Act, the report by the FSAs non-executive committee on the discharge of its functions.

3. The Report will be discussed at the FSA's third Annual Meeting to be held at Cabot Hall, Canary Wharf, London E14 on Thursday 18 July. Representatives of consumers and of the regulated industry will be invited to the event and the public will be able to attend. The holding of the meeting is in line with the FSM Act requirement for the FSA to organise an annual public meeting so as to allow a general discussion of the contents of its Annual Report.

4. The FSA Annual Report 2001/02 is available here.

5. The FSA regulates the financial services industry and has four objectives under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000: maintaining market confidence; promoting public understanding of the financial system; securing the appropriate degree of protection of consumers; and fighting financial crime.

6. The FSA aims to maintain efficient, orderly and clean financial markets and help retail consumers achieve a fair deal.