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Regulatory Column

15 November 2007
Issue: 7297 / Categories: Features , Regulatory
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northern rock: the aftermath >>
CODE OF PRACTICE FOR REGulATORS >>
MEDICAL PROFESSION REGULATION >>

financial regulation—does the system work?

The events surrounding the first modern run on a British bank have put the Financial Services Authority (FSA) rudely back into the spotlight after a period of quiet reorganisation and reflection by the UK’s financial regulator. Until the Northern Rock drama unfurled, the FSA was confidently rolling out its new risk-based approach to regulation while streamlining its workforce. The reforms were generally met with approval and the FSA was praised for the new emphasis on the “light touch” and for its devolution of responsibility to the regulated community. At the same time, London was busily being feted as the world’s No 1 financial centre and all seemed well from the regulator’s vantage point in Canary Wharf.

The French have a particular saying involving soup and the devil. The gist is that once you have made yourself a nice soup, Beelzebub has a habit of spoiling it. In essence, the Northern Rock affair seems to have been a soup-spoiling moment

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
In this week's NLJ, Steven Ball of Red Lion Chambers unpacks how advances in forensic science finally unmasked Ryland Headley, jailed in 2025 for the 1967 rape and murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne. Preserved swabs and palm prints lay dormant for decades until DNA-17 profiling produced a billion-to-one match
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
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