9th April 2010

Does The Regulators' Compliance Code apply to the FSA?

The Regulators' Compliance Code is a central part of the Government's better regulation agenda. Its aim is to embed a risk-based, proportionate and targeted approach to regulatory inspection and enforcement among the regulators it applies to.

Their expectation is that as regulators integrate the Code's standards into their regulatory culture and processes, they will become more efficient and effective in their work. They will be able to use their resources in a way that gets the most value out of the effort that they make, whilst delivering significant benefits to low risk and compliant businesses through better-focused inspection activity, increased use of advice for businesses, and lower compliance costs.

The Compliance Code has been issued with parliamentary approval, following a wide and lengthy consultation process, and comes into force on 6 April 2008 by virtue of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Code of Practice (Appointed Day) Order 2007.

"I believe that the application of the Code can make a difference on the ground to the regulators, those they regulate, and society in general".

Pat McFadden MP
Minister of State Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR)

As stated above, this is a Statutory Code of Practice and came into force on 6 April 2008 by virtue of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Code of Practice (Appointed Day) Order 2007.

So where did it all go wrong with the FSA, read the code here - pages 11 and 12 are a very relevent starting point, section 3.1 states -

Regulators should consider the impact that their regulatory interventions may have on economic progress, including through consideration of the costs, effectiveness and perceptions of fairness of regulation. They should only adopt a particular approach if the benefits justify the costs and it entails the minimum burden compatible with achieving their objectives.

section 3.3 states that -

Regulators should consider the impact that their regulatory interventions may have on small regulated entities, using reasonable endeavours to ensure that the burdens of their interventions fall fairly and proportionately on such entities, by giving consideration to the size of the regulated entities and the nature of their activities.

So, what does the Better Regulation Executive, who issued this code do?

The Better Regulation Executive (BRE), at the Department for Business leads the Government agenda on better regulation with the aim of making life as simple as possible for businesses, charities and the public sector front line. BRE works with the rest of Government to:

• improve the design of new regulations and how they are communicated;
• simplify and modernise existing regulations; and
• change attitudes and approaches to regulation to become more risk-based.

What this means is that they work with all Government Departments to ensure that regulation is transparent, accountable, proportionate, consistent and targeted. And that it gets the job done - without causing excessive cost or aggravation for businesses, public sector frontline workers and charities in the UK.

Contact The BRE with views, opinions and ideas of how to do it better.

Are the FSA aware of this code? According to Money Marketing, an FSA spokeswoman says: "We have consulted widely on the retail distribution review and received considerable input from firms of all sizes, including a large number of small firms. We have taken their views on board."

So that is a "NO then"??

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