“It has been an extremely hectic past year,” reflects the Financial Services Authority’s general counsel Andrew Whittaker as he pours himself a glass of water in the meeting room at the FSA’s huge Canary Wharf HQ, home to its 2,000 London-based staff. “During September and October we had an enormous number of issues to deal with.”
The 52-year-old Oxford graduate cites the ban on ‘short-selling‘, which he was heavily involved in implementing, as a key challenge from that period. “It was very much a rapid response to market conditions — a sign that the regulator was able to take firm and effective action at very short notice, which was undoubtedly a shock to lots of people,” he recalls.
