Financial Services Authority

The United Kingdom Financial Services Authority (FSA) is an independent non-governmental body that regulates the UK financial services industry.

The FSA was created by the UK chancellor of the exchequer on May 20, 1997, and given statutory powers on December 1, 2001 by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

The Financial Services and Markets Act imposed four statutory objectives upon the FSA:

market confidence: maintaining confidence in the financial system
public awareness: promoting public understanding of the financial system;
consumer protection: securing the appropriate degree of protection for consumers; and
reduction of financial crime: reducing the extent to which it is possible for a business carried on by a regulated person to be used for a purpose connected with financial crime