UK: is regulation 'clinically insane'?

The regulation may not be clinically insane (as per Jon Moulton) but it certainly requires a special individual to be able to find one's way through the thousand plus pages of the assorted rules and regulations passed by the FSA. One wonders how many of its staff would pass an exam that tests them about detailed knowledge of all the rules, - we would take bets that the present chairman would not be able to pass the exam. We do not even want to get into the question of democratic accountability as the British Parliament is not fit for the purpose it is designed for. There is no 'talk' (french: parler) as the stooges peopling its benches are basically told what to nod through by the government.