The Financial Services Authority (FSA) intends to be a reforming regulator constantly on the lookout for changes, which will reinforce its statutory objectives, chairman Howard Davies has said.
"At midnight tomorrow the Financial Services Authority finally comes into its own as the UK's single financial services regulator. At last, that mythical date "N2" is upon us.
"For a change which has been so long coming, it is tempting to see N2 as a destination. But it would be wrong to do so. Tomorrow is not a destination, but a starting point for the development of financial regulation in the UK," he said.
Davies was speaking at the Foreign Banks and Securities Houses Association annual conference.
He added that the FSA's aim was to maintain a proportionate approach, while ensuring that London maintained a reputation for being a well regulated financial centre.
He said market participants had to have confidence in the rules themselves, and believe that their counterparties would obey them.
"That, you tell me, is what most financial institutions want. Our aim is to supply it, at as low a cost as we can sensibly manage," he said.
