The Financial Services Authority is becoming increasingly suspicious of firms who attempt to head off enforcement action by offering it "sacrificial lambs", according to a senior lawyer. Brian McDonnell, a partner at Olswang, said that firms could take many steps to deal with potential FSA enforcement threats but warned that offering people up to the "FSA gods" might not protect senior management at firms. Speaking at the firm's enforcement briefing yesterday the lawyer pointed to the recent ramping-up of FSA activity and noted that the regulator had never been so "aggressive".
McDonnell said that despite FSA attempts to take more action against individuals the regulator found it hard to penalise people who were not directly responsible for actual breaches. Cases which the FSA brought against individuals also tended to be much harder fought, the lawyer added. He said that individuals looking to fight cases needed to bear in mind that they would forfeit the right to a reduced penalty
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