The UK Financial Services Authority has announced it wants to impose much bigger penalties on firms or individuals who cheat their customers or engage in insider dealing. The FSA says its current level of fines have not been high enough to deter wrongdoers and the new fines will treble its penalties in some cases, perhaps as much as 20% of turnover, with individuals liable to penalties of 40% of their salary and bonuses.

Margaret Cole, (pictured) the FSA's director of enforcement, said her organisation needed a stronger deterrent. "By hitting companies and individuals in the pocket where it hurts, the fines will be a stark warning to others on what they can expect to pay for flouting our rules," she said, adding: "Moving to this new framework will enable our enforcement policy to continue making a real difference to consumers and to changing behaviour in the financial services sector."

The FSA's proposed new scale of fines is going out to consultation with the plan likely to be implemented in February 2010.