On 9 February 2010, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) announced that Hector Sants, the FSA’s CEO, will stand down in the summer. He will have held the role for three years in July, leading the FSA through a time of extraordinary challenges for financial institutions and their regulators alike. As yet, Sants’ successor has not been selected, but financial institutions, their advisers and commentators are wondering what impact a change of leader might have on the FSA’s policies and approach to regulation.
As a consequence of the financial crisis, the scope and nature of regulation in the financial sector will be deeply influenced by political issues at UK, European and international levels. The FSA will have to negotiate this over the next few years but its own approach to regulation and its relationship with regulated firms is likely to be influenced more by Sants’ successor.
