Blackstone’s Guide to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000

Citation

Vinten, G. (2001), "Blackstone’s Guide to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000", Managerial Auditing Journal, Vol. 16 No. 9, pp. 535-535. https://doi.org/10.1108/maj.2001.16.9.535.1

This is a guide to the most important piece of UK financial services legislation ever. Equally it is a model of its kind, and so will be of considerable interest to other jurisdictions. The Act represents both a significant overhaul and unification of oversight arrangements for banking, insurance and other types of investment. It is particularly incisive when it comes to dealing with market abuse, with radical new sanctions introduced. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) should become a powerful, centralised and near universal regulator of financial markets. Mergers of regulators have been taking place over the years, from when previously there was a confusing array of regulatory acronyms. Before that the regulatory regime was inefficient and ineffective.

Consumers now have a statutory Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which operates quickly and informally. Events are moving swiftly as reference to the FSA Web site will demonstrate. FSA staff, apart from coping with merged activities, are also producing numerous consultation documents, and finalising others. With the ink barely dry on so much, it may seem brave to publish a text such as this. However such a book is desperately needed, even if revision will follow rapidly.

Half of the book is simply a reprint of the Act. Given that legalese can be difficult and ambiguous to follow, it is pleasing to have joined up language setting out the context and explanation for each section in the Act, taken in turn by five authoritative lawyers. This does include a section on auditors, but equally significant is the treatment of the various regulatory themes. This book will have a position of pre‐eminence as the first stab at interpreting the Act, and its successive editions will be eagerly awaited. As befits an Act that is to be workable and have impact, the text is clearly and well written. This book will be here to stay for as long as the legislation survives, which is likely to be for some time.