Regulatory and Legal Commentary: From Chancellor's Statement to Statute Book: A retrospective on the Financial Services and Markets Act

As readers of this Journal are probably by now immersed in the strategic and practical preparatory work for the full implementation of the Financial Services and Markets Act (N2) next year (which, at the time of writing, is expected to be summer 2001) it is nevertheless worthwhile casting a backward glance over the regulatory reform process that began in May 1997 with the then new Chancellor's Statement to the House of Commons. An important milestone in this reform process was reached three years later on 14th June when Royal Assent was attached to the Financial Services and Markets Bill and converted it into legislation. The Bill has been referred to as the most heavily amended ever with some 2,750 amendments tabled and nearly 1,500 agreed. The Financial Services and Markets Act (the Act) now consists of 433 s. and 22 Schs. but how it reached that final form is a very long story indeed. In parts, that story has been a highly technical one of interest only to the legal, compliance or product design specialist, in parts, the story has been one of the highest level of non‐partisan intellectual sophistication and debate and, in other parts, it has been one of highly charged political debate. This paper will not even attempt to begin to consider all the amendments agreed but instead will single out a few of the more significant areas of the Act that were the subject of some contention and/or amendment in its passage into and through Parliament.