FSA tightens liquidity rules for companies in Britain

Financial-services companies operating in the UK will have to meet “tighter liquidity requirements” that will be set by Britain’s market regulator and phased in over a period as the economy recovers. By December, the companies will be given rules about their liquidity and a definition of what assets can be included as liquid assets, the London-based Financial Services Authority said today. Foreign companies with branches in the UK will also be subject to regulation. “Implementing tougher liquidity rules is essential to ensure we are in a better position to face future crises,” Paul Sharma, the FSA director of prudential policy said.

Lawmakers around the world are overhauling regulation in the wake of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Rules are being proposed at national, continental and global levels, putting companies at risk of having to take costly new compliance measures only to see them superseded.