Financial regulation is a broad set of policies that apply to the financial sector in most jurisdictions, justified by two main features of finance: systemic risk, which implies that the failure of financial firms involves public interest considerations; and information asymmetry, which justifies curbs on freedom of contract in selected areas of financial services, particularly those that involve retail clients and/or Principal–agent problems. An integral part of financial regulation is the supervision of designated financial firms and markets by specialized authorities such as securities commissions and bank supervisors.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) was a quasi-judicial body accountable for the regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom between 2001 and 2013. It was founded as the Securities and Investments Board (SIB) in 1985. Its board was appointed by the Treasury, although it operated independently of government. It was structured as a company limited by guarantee and was funded entirely by fees charged to the financial services industry.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) is a statutory authority of the Australian Government and the prudential regulator of the Australian financial services industry. APRA was established on 1 July 1998 in response to the recommendations of the Wallis Inquiry. APRA's authority and scope is determined pursuant to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act, 1998 (Cth).
The Equitable Life Assurance Society, founded in 1762, is a life insurance company in the United Kingdom. The world's oldest mutual insurer, it pioneered age-based premiums based on mortality rate, laying "the framework for scientific insurance practice and development" and "the basis of modern life assurance upon which all life assurance schemes were subsequently based". After closing to new business in 2000, parts of the business were sold off and the remainder of the company became a subsidiary of Utmost Life and Pensions in January 2020.
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the Financial Services Authority (FSA) as a regulator for insurance, investment business and banking, and the Financial Ombudsman Service to resolve disputes as a free alternative to the courts.
The Reserve Bank of Fiji is the central bank of the Pacific island country of Fiji. The responsibilities of the RBF include the issue of currency, control of money supply, currency exchange, monetary stability, promotion of sound finances, and fostering economic development.
Sir Paul Tucker is a British economist, central banker, and author. He was formerly the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, with responsibility for financial stability, and served on the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee from June 2002 until October 2013 and its interim and then full Financial Policy Committee from June 2011. In November 2012 he was turned down for the position of governor in favour of Mark Carney. In June 2013, Tucker announced that he would leave the Bank of England, and later that he would be moving to Harvard. He was knighted in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to central banking. His first book, Unelected Power, was published in May 2018 and his second book, Global Discord was published in November 2022.
Solvency II Directive 2009 is a Directive in European Union law that codifies and harmonises the EU insurance regulation. Primarily this concerns the amount of capital that EU insurance companies must hold to reduce the risk of insolvency.
Andrew John Bailey is a British central banker who has been Governor of the Bank of England since 16 March 2020.
The Financial Services Board (FSB) was the government of South Africa's financial regulatory agency responsible for the non-banking financial services industry in South Africa from 1990 to 2018. On the 1 April 2018 its responsibilities were split into two new agencies the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) for conduct regulation and the Prudential Authority (PA) for prudential regulation.
Matthew Elderfield was Deputy Governor and Head of Financial Regulation at the Central Bank of Ireland, a position sometimes referred to colloquial in Ireland as the Financial Regulator between January 2010 and October 2013. He is also the former chief executive of the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA).
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is a financial regulatory body in the United Kingdom which operates independently of the UK Government and is financed by charging fees to members of the financial services industry. The FCA regulates financial firms providing services to consumers and maintains the integrity of the financial markets in the United Kingdom.
The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) is a United States federal government organization, established by Title I of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama on July 21, 2010. The Office of Financial Research is intended to provide support to the council.
Financial regulation in Australia is extensive and detailed.
The French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority, formerly known as Prudential Supervision Authority, is an independent administrative authority which exercises prudential supervision of regulated French financial firms such as banks and insurance companies. It operates under the aegis of the Bank of France.
The Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) is the first pillar of the European banking union and is the legislative and institutional framework that grants the European Central Bank (ECB) a leading supervisory role over banks in the EU. The ECB directly supervises the larger banks while it does it indirectly for the smaller ones. Eurozone countries are required to participate, while participation is voluntary for non-eurozone EU member states. In October 2020, two non-Eurozone countries joined the European banking supervision mechanism through a process known as close cooperation: Bulgaria and Croatia. As of early 2021, the SSM directly supervises 115 banks across the Union, representing almost 82% of banking assets of these countries. The SSM, along with the Single Resolution Mechanism are the two central components of the European banking union.
A Deputy Governor of the Bank of England is the holder of one of a small number of senior positions at the Bank of England, reporting directly to the Governor.
Sam Woods is a New Zealand-born British civil servant. In July 2016, he became the deputy governor of the Bank of England, and head of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), which oversees the UK banking and insurance sectors. As head of the PRA, he succeeded Andrew Bailey, who became the head of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Prior to his role at the Bank, Woods held positions at HM Treasury, UK Financial Investments, the Independent Commission on Banking, and earlier at Diageo and McKinsey.
Challenger banks are small, recently created retail banks that compete directly with the longer-established banks in the UK, sometimes by specialising in areas underserved by the "big four" banks. As well as new entrants to the market, some challenger banks were created following divestment from larger banking groups or wind-down of a failed large bank.
