Chancellor may beef up FSA watchdog

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The Government was urged to grant the Financial Services Authority (FSA) US-style powers in the wake of last week's slump in a major bank's share price amid claims of market manipulation.

A London-based hedge fund was reported to have circulated rumours about UK companies, including Britain's biggest mortgage lender HBOS, in a bid to make money when their share prices fell.

Amid global financial turmoil, Mr Darling told the Guardian newspaper he wanted to see a crackdown - and that meant the authorities needed "the tools to do the job".

"I can't allow us to get into a situation where people quite deliberately manipulate markets for personal gain and with the potential to de stabilise the financial system," he said.

The Guardian said FSA investigators would be given the "specified prosecutor" status already enjoyed by tax officials, the Serious Fraud Office and the director of public prosecutions.

A spokeswoman for the FSA, which has asked for the powers, welcomed the move, part of a package of measures designed to tackle the present worldwide period of uncertainty.