“Record performance” is all relative, of course, but the Guardian reports that the number of fines and bans handed out by the UK’s Financial Services Authority “is on course for a record this year” under its new “get tough” approach.
The other side of this coin, of course, is that it does not take a lot to achieve a record amount of fines by the traditionally “light-touch” FSA. Indeed, the record pace reported by the Guardian is a not-so-whopping £8.1m in FSA fines year-to-date. (The whole story actually reminds us a bit of Dr. Evil–see the video below).
An FSA spokeswoman stated that “[t]he increase in the levels of fines and the number of prosecutions are designed to act as a credible deterrent.”
