Watchdog aims to speed up probes

THE Financial Services Authority today promised to make a major attempt to speed up its enforcement actions and bring wrongdoers to justice more quickly.

It intends to cut investigation times by up to 30% without undermining quality and fairness, and save further time in the overall process with better internal procedures, faster decision-making and a greater use of IT.

FSA chief executive John Tiner told the watchdog's annual meeting in London that it was responding to criticism of its procedures.

The time taken to investigate, prosecute and bring a case to a conclusion has been compared unfavourably with the much faster, though different, process in America.

The cost and demand on resources in lengthy investigations such as the inquiry into split-capital trusts has also been a cause for concern.

An internal review found that targets for completing work were longer than necessary; the time taken to review cases before moving them to the next stage was too long; greater use of IT would make the management of cases and information-gathering more efficient; and people were taking too long to make decisions.