On 1 June, Chris Headdon, the former chief executive of Equitable Life, was the most recent individual to face disciplinary action from the Financial Services Authority (FSA). He was banned from the financial services industry until 26 May, 2010.
There is hardly a sector in the regulated community that has not been subject to some form of disciplinary action taken by the FSA since 1 December, 2001, when the so-called super-regulator came into existence. In February 2004, action was taken for the first time in the insurance sector against a UK subsidiary of the Japanese Insurer Aioi, which resulted in three named individuals being banned from the financial services industry and three others prevented from exercising any management authority. The action was taken by the FSA as a consequence of serious accounting irregularities.
