Regulation of the UK's financial services industry is important partly because of the significance of the industry to our economy. As a result the UK financial services industry makes a massive contribution to our balance of payments. British Invisibles have calculated that net overseas earnings of the UK financial sector stood at a record 20.4 billion pounds in 1994. As this conference programme amply demonstrates, the financial services industry is changing. Standards are a lot higher now than they were when the Financial Services Act was introduced.
Firms are more professional.
New products are coming on the market. As many of you will be aware I am not in favour of wholesale structural change of the FSA as that would be divisive, disruptive and expensive for the industry. I do however favour change within the Act. I also commend two IMRO initiatives they announced recently in their regulatory plan. The first is their proposal to look at how they can ensure that the investor is given sufficient information and that they also understand it.