The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has moved to pacify senior politicians' fears about staff turnover and its impact on the consistency of communication between firms and the regulator during the transition to the 'twin peaks' and Solvency II regimes.
Speaking at yesterday's All-Party Parliamentary Group on Insurance and Financial Services (APPGIFS) meeting, the director of insurance supervision, Prudential Business Unit (PBU), Julian Adams insisted the turnover had mostly been seen at a junior rather than the senior associate and manager level.
However, APPGIF chairman Jonathan Evans MP and Lord Hunt both claimed to have been approached by insurers and other regulated firms - one of whom was "incandescent with rage" - that their entire senior contact points within the FSA had moved on, leading them to have to build relationships again from scratch.
The PBU director also commented that under the new regime, more smaller firms would have their own individual contact points, and that this could prove a fertile training ground for these "long-term regulators".
Mr Adams went on to appease another concern that the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulatory Authority, although separate, would end up operating as the FSA does now, highlighting that communication between the two would only be necessary to help either party achieve their stated objectives.
Finally, Mr Adams would not be drawn too much on the Solvency II timetable, only admitting that the intended 1 January 2014 deadline was "increasingly remote as a possibility to be hit".
However, he indicated that the FSA would likely give the market an update before November when it had a better "credible" idea of how the SII trialogue was panning out after the European Parliament reconvenes next month.
Full article
© Incisive Media Investments Limited
Key
Hover over the blue highlighted
text to view the acronym meaning
Hover
over these icons for more information
Comments:
No Comments for this Article