VideoMany people expect British regulators to launch their own investigation. But that will not happen immediately. The General Insurance Standards Council, the current regulator, says that it has no interest in a "fishing expedition" in the absence of a complaint. It is more likely, then, that the Financial Services Authority (FSA), which takes over the regulation of insurance brokers next January, will follow up on Mr. Spitzer's complaints.
Though the FSA says that it is "monitoring the situation", it has taken its cue from Mr. Spitzer before on matters such as market-timing (a sin of mutual-fund managers) and investment banks' allocating of shares in hot initial public offerings to preferred clients. On both those counts, Britain has avoided the worst abuses (though there have been plenty of other financial-services scandals). The industry is cringing at the notion of the FSA demanding yet more information on top of the existing deluge of paperwork. But that might prove a small price to pay if the result is that it avoids the punishments facing American firms. The insurance industry's moment in the spotlight is far from over.
Reader Comments» Post a comment