FSA's 166 rule: what lies behind its £114m cost to the industry?

‘When the credit crisis hit, the FSA had to apply its resources to ensuring systemically important firms were sound,’ Meade-King said.  ‘Given they had this power, they decided to expand it.’

The FSA said: ‘Section 166 of Financial Services and Markets Act gives the FSA the power to commission reports by ‘skilled persons’ as required.

‘We use this power to obtain an independent view of aspects of a firm’s activities that for example cause us concern or where we require further analysis.’