Today the Financial Services Consumer Panel welcomed the publication of the Baird Report on the Regulation of Equitable Life and called for rapid implementation of changes to ensure better consumer protection.

Colin Brown, Panel Chairman, said ‘This is a long and dense report, clearly the result of a thorough and penetrating investigation. No punches have been pulled in its conclusions and recommendations. We welcome its publication, and congratulate Ronnie Baird and his team. The report points out mistakes and omissions by the FSA which must not be allowed to happen again. It also points to changes needed in the regulations to ensure the financial stability of insurance companies. These gaps in consumer protection must be closed as soon as possible.'

The Baird report highlights serious errors and management shortcomings in the FSA during 1999 and 2000 and makes a number of recommendations. The Panel notes that the FSA will be providing a response to the Treasury by 20 November along with a work plan for implementation of changes. Both the Treasury and the report itself have called for proper consultation with the industry over the proposals – the Panel hopes that consumers, who have been the losers in this crisis, will be consulted too. This is an unparalleled opportunity for the FSA to get it right for the future and to put consumer protection at the heart of all their operations, including prudential supervision.

The FSA took over responsibility for supervision of Equitable Life in January 1999, and the Baird report points out that nothing the FSA could have done would have changed the legal decision that precipitated the crisis, or the final outcome for Equitable Life. The Panel looks forward to the report of the Penrose inquiry, recently established by the Treasury, which will investigate further back into the roots of the crisis.

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Notes to editors