With its final day as the U.K’s top financial regulator drawing close, the Financial Services Authority is going out with a bang. This week, in addition to publishing a business plan and risk outlook for the new Financial Conduct Authority that will replace it on April 1, the FSA enacted new rules that allow smaller banks a better chance at challenging the prominence of Britain’s “Big Four.”
The FSA currently regulates the financial services industry in the U.K. The new FCA will supervise the conduct of approximately 26,000 firms across all financial industry sectors and the prudential standards of approximately 23,000 firms not regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority.
