Financial Services Authority is ‘heavy-handed’ in its approach

Financial Services Authority is ‘heavy-handed’ in its approach

	Published : Sun, 25 Sep 2005 19:05 By : Richard Owen Print this Story

The chief executive of the French insurance giant, Axa, has said that the Financial Services Authority is taking a 'heavy-handed' approach to regulation. In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph Henri de Castries said that the intervention of the City watchdog was threatening to become "over-consumerist."

De Castries accused the FSA of going overboard with unnecessary regulations that threatened to transcend from being good rules to downright interference. Axa Sun Life and PPP, the health insurer are Axa's main possessions in Britain. The UK wing of the business accounts for 15 percent of the overall business and has announced an interim profit of £118 million this year. De Castries has professed interest in acquiring more UK businesses though the FSA could prove to be a deterrent.

"I cannot think of any other market where 25 per cent of the industry has closed to new business and where so many external players have not been prepared to enter and make acquisitions," De Castries said adding that the comparison of the UK life industry from "25 years ago and today - then you now only have one global player - Aviva. You have seen more big casualties than elsewhere." De Castries is not the only one to hold a grouse against the FSA.

People affected by the collapse of the financial services group Imperial Consolidated have alleged that the FSA adopts double standards and is hypocritical. "I'm surprised the FSA have the nerve to even raise the issue of Imperial Consolidated now, having washed their hands of it at the time when investors needed their help," said Bill Hershaw, one of the representatives of various groups of investors.

His comments came as the FSA's chief executive, John Tiner had said in a speech last week that the collapse of Imperial Consolidated should serve as a warning to fund managers that they could not wash off their hands once they had sold faulty investments to clients.