New regulator chair pledges 'maximum synergy' with Bank

The chairman-designate of the Financial Services Authority, Turner of Ecchinswell, told MPs yesterday: "However hard one tries, something will go wrong."

Lord, formerly Adair, Turner was giving evidence to the Treasury Select Committee. He is due to take over as Chairman of the FSA in September. He will serve a five-year term when the current chairman, Callum McCarthy, steps down.

His attempt to massage expectations for the Authority's ability to prevent financial catastrophe comes at the end of a torrid year for the FSA, notable for widespread criticism of its performance during the Northern Rock crisis.

The new chairman of the FSA pledged to ensure there is "maximum synergy" between the FSA and the Bank of England to ensure the stability of the financial system. "The Bank, through its financial stability analysis, is well placed to identify emerging trends which may have implications for the appropriate focus of individual firm supervision and the FSA, through its supervision may be aware of emerging patterns which the Bank's financial stability team should be investigating in more detail," he said.

Lord Turner also said that the normal market forces of supply and demand, rather than speculation, has been responsible for record oil prices. H e pointed to continuing strong demand for oil and other commodities coming from the emerging market economies as the major factor in the trend: "There's no large accumulation of evidence that speculation is playing a major role in what's happening to oil prices."

Lord Turner, a former head of the Confederation of British Industry, will continue to chair the shadow (non-statutory) Climate Change Committee until December.