Any type of business falling within the scope of FSMA. The Act contains a general prohibition on the carrying out of such an activity in the UK unless it is authorised or exempt. The wide-ranging activities include: accepting deposits; acting as a trustee in an authorised unit trust scheme; effecting or carrying out insurance contracts; dealing in investments as principal or agent; managing the underwriting capacity of a Lloyd’s syndicate as a managing agent; arranging deals in contracts of insurance written at Lloyd’s, etc.; agreeing to carry on a regulated activity which is carried on by way of business. Insurance mediation will be regulated from 2005. (Visit www.fsa.gov.uk).