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Sunday 15 February 2009

Adair Turner on the Andrew Marr Show

Lord Turner spoke of the failures of the FSA to recognise the risks that were emerging when the review of HBOS was being conducted.

"The FSA at that time was more focused on the processes rather than looking at the whole business model at the time – the processes rather than the financial risk.

"With hindsight the FSA was focused on individual institutions not on the totality of the systemic risks across the whole system – that is a legitimate criticism.

"I am certainly sorry that across the whole world that there was a failure to focus on these risks – the FSA was doing a lot of good work – but failed to focus on these issues."

So is that an apology or a resignation statement? The FSA has shown itself to have not understood or acted on seriouw risks at Northern Rock, Bradford & Bingley, HBOS, RBS and AIG FP. As I have said many times before the FSA is not fit to regulate banks, and this is the admission of the same by the head of the FSA itself. Lord Turner's predecessor admitted the same in the FSA's own internal inquiry into Northern Rock by admitting that the FSA didn't look at the extent of and risk in NR's mismatched assets and liabilities (a standard risk in banking) and they thought that the Bank of England, who were not responsible for monitoring Northern Rosck, would step in to meet any shorfall in funding if there was a liquidity crisis.

How incompetent can anyone be and still get paid a bonus? And do the good people of Ecchinswell have to put up with a New Labour placeman and incompetent usurping their good name?

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