The Treasury has set a rigorous timetable for transferring insurance regulation from the General Insurance Standards Council (GISC) to the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
The timetable was published following the 23 January meeting between top industry bodies, the FSA and the Treasury - the first since the regulatory changeover was announced.
It promised the FSA would publish a guide for intermediaries by March, with draft legislation published for consultation in July.
Legislation is timetabled to be in Parliament by October and threshold conditions for authorisation set by December.
The FSA will further consult the industry on conduct of business rules in the first quarter of 2003 and publish its final rules in the second half of the year.
Finally, the FSA will take over regulation in the second quarter of 2004.
The FSA's investment firms division director David Kenmir will oversee the project until a formal project team is formed.
Kenmir said the timetable, which was proposed by the Treasury and agreed at the meeting, was "inevitably tight, but achievable".
"The key message we're working on is the intermediary document, with basic information on the FSA, the legislation, the timetable and guidance on what information already exists," he said.
British Insurance Brokers' Association (Biba) chief executive Mike Williams agreed the timetable was "tight, but do-able".
"With the goodwill of the industry, they can do it,' he said.
GISC chief executive Chris Woodburn said the timetable would "require cooperation and commitment from all parties".
