LONDON (Reuters) - The average fine slapped by the Financial Services Authority on firms it regulates nearly doubled this year compared with 2009 and will continue upwards, Britain’s markets watchdog said yesterday.

The FSA, tarnished by its failure to spot the financial crisis coming in 2007, introduced a “credible deterrence” policy to impose heavier fines for market abuses such as insider trading or failing to abide by reporting rules.

Fines so far this year total around £80 million ($126.6 million) as “significant penalty inflation” takes hold.

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