"It is an
awesome concentration of executive power." (David
Heathcoat-Armory MP)
"(The FSA) is a
Stalinist legislature... Members may laugh, but the FSA
has the type of powers that have existed too frequently
in totalitarian countries." (Howard Flight MP)
"The good side
of Stalinism is that it can deliver major projects on
time and within 0.1 per cent of the price." (Howard
Davies, FSA Chairman, in the Financial Times)
"The Bill will
confer on (Howard Davies) a more powerful position within
a major institution than any post-war legislation has
conferred on anyone else." (Andrew Tyrie)
"The extent to
which an enormously powerful legislative body with thin
channels of accountability is being created
constitutionally has not been adequately realised."
(Howard Flight MP)
"The FSA will
prove to be a Frankenstein monster that will turn on the
financial services industry and the potentially
destructive powers of its regulatory zeal will soon run
out of control. " (Tim Loughton MP)
"The climate of
fear is such that firms are afraid to raise any
objections in case they are singled out for intensive
scrutiny, and never given the benefit of the doubt."
(Tim Loughton MP)
"We
have a very simple philosophy towards the Bill which
resolves itself into a simple question: who guards the
guardians?" (Lord Saatchi)
"(Accountability)
is the least that Parliament is entitled to ask from a
body on which it is bestowing so much power and public
trust." (Lord Saatchi)
"Who is to
regulate the regulators?" (Lord Rees)
"This
legislation will give the FSA tremendous powers, possibly
making it the mose powerful institution in the
land." (Lord Stewartby)
"If indivduals
and businesses are to be accountable to the FSA, the FSA
must be accountable within the democratic system."
(Lord Stewartby)
"Why should the
FSA have statutory immunity if soldiers and policemen in
far more testing circumstances than those faced by the
representatives of the FSA do not receive immunity?"
(Lord Kingsland)
