FSA's new rules turn up heat on risk managers

The UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) has caused a stir in the upper ranks of London-based investment banks with new rules that effectively force senior executives to accept unlimited liability for risk management errors.

The FSA’s sweeping new powers for financial markets regulation came into force on December 1 – the so-called N2 deadline. It is now able to impose fines on any one of 180,000 regulated individuals who break its rules, but it has highlighted the roles played by directors and senior managers who must be designated by their firms as responsible for key areas of their business.

The purpose of the FSA’s specific guidelines for what it calls ‘senior management arrangements, systems and controls’ is