Giving evidence before MPs on the Treasury Select Committee today, Lord Turner, the chairman of the FSA, was immediately questioned about the funding and budget of the organisation.
He explained how the service had been established after the government agreed the recommendations of the Thoresen Review should be implemented, although the Treasury made it clear it would not be funded by the public purse.
Turner said asking the industry to fund the entire money advice element of the service was “not a decision we would have made ourselves independently”.
He added he had corresponded on the issue with financial secretary Mark Hoban and other ministers.
Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie MP asked for details about the letters between Lord Turner and Hoban on the issue, as well as any other correspondence or phone calls between the two parties.
However, Turner said: “There may not be perfect records of the decision to move MAS funding to an industry levy.”
