FSA goes out with a bang by trebling fines to £97m

The FSA has trebled the value of fines it has collected from financial services firms in the year to March 31, according to law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC).

RPC said the fines soared from £33.1m to £96.7m.

RPC financial services team partner Jonathan Davies said: “The FSA has now begun the internal reorganisation that will result in its replacement and these fines show that it is making every effort to go out with a bang.”

"This is quite an extraordinary cranking up of the FSA’s enforcement activity."

RPC said the average fine handed down by the FSA last year was up 49% on the year before, from £739,284 to £1,099,159.

RPC said a new FSA fines policy implemented last year could see the amount of fines treble again in future years.

Davies added: “What will really scare financial services firms is that the FSA has clocked up record fines totalling nearly a hundred million pounds and that could easily treble next year as more fines punish conduct taking place after the rule change."