Lords condemn FSA failure to control banks

The House of Lords economic affairs committee has criticised the way banks were supervised by the Treasury, Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority and has called for reforms. The committee said it was unclear who was in charge, and criticised the FSA particularly for concentrating on its consumer protection role at the expense of its responsibility for maintaining financial stability. The committee added that the responsibility for supervising the banking system as a whole should be taken from the FSA and given to the Bank of England.