The UK’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Authority, has received a hostile reception over its deregulation drive from the UK fin...

The UK’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Authority, has received a hostile reception over its deregulation drive from the UK financial sector. Although complaining about the compliance burden, several City of London trade groups have condemned the FSA’s first specific advance down the road of lighter regulation, the removal of the approved persons system in the wholesale area, saying that this move would threaten the success and integrity of the UK’s financial services industry. Next month the FSA will announce whether the approved person regime for wholesale financial services, along with compulsory examinations for staff in the wholesale markets will be dropped. The move would affect around 10,000 people working in the UK’s wholesale markets, including fund managers. The moves would threaten market integrity, lower standards of professionalism and undermine London's competitive position as a financial centre, according to several representative organisations. "The risks these proposals are likely to bring to the stability and confidence of the market have not been fully addressed," the London Investment Banking Association said in a letter to the FSA, which has also received representations from the British Bankers' Association, the UK Society of Investment Professionals and the Securities & Investment Institute, which manages financial services qualifications. The City of London Police is also understood to have concerns over difficulties the regime would present in identifying rogue employees under the proposed changes.