The FSA has pledged to increase its enforcement staffing by 10% over the next next year, according to its annual report.

It also plans to analyse new products and the financial promotions which go with them more stringently.

The FSA's budget will increase by just over 3% in the coming year.

The budget for the FSA's mainstream regulatory activities in 2003/04 is £200.5m.

FSA chief operating officer Paul Boyle said:

"On a like-for-like basis the budget is 3.1% higher than for 2002/03 - a small increase in real terms.

"Our costs for next year will include substantial increases for rent, insurance and the FSA pensions scheme. We have been able to offset most of these increases through improvements in our economy and efficiency equating to savings of £8.6m.

"We can already identify further cost pressures in 2004/05 and during the coming year we will be looking for further opportunities to improve our efficiency and increase our regulatory effectiveness."


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