ABSTRACT
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) was set up by law in 2002 as the principal regulator of banks and financial institutions through the determination and drive of then Chancellor Gordon Brown. Its creation was seen as a major breakthrough in the regulation of financial services, as previously in most major financial centres, this activity was fragmented and often regulators competed with one another rather than working cooperatively. This chapter explains the research method, followed by the background of HBOS and its collapse. It then focuses on the actions of systemic people and networks, the FSA leadership and enforcement failures, whistleblower Paul Moore, Guy Bainbridge and KPMG, the Financial Reporting Council's deflection of enforcement and finally the challenges given to regulators by parliamentarian Andrew Tyrie. All of these help to understand how people in influential positions responded to the serious problems at HBOS.
