The chief executive of the Financial Services Authority today pledged to “act decisively” on the results of an internal review that has found the UK financial markets regulator’s supervision of stricken lender Northern Rock last year was sub-standard.

The FSA will not publish the full conclusions of its review until next month, but Hector Sants, chief executive since last July, today told delegates at a conference for retail financial services firms: “I commissioned an internal review of our supervision of Northern Rock in the period up to July last year…I can now say it will show that the supervision of the company did not meet the standards I would expect of the FSA.”