Jul 28, 2010 6:12 PM GMT+0800 Wed Jul 28 10:12:40 UTC 2010

The Financial Services Authority, the U.K.’s market regulator, has the power to prosecute money- laundering offenses, the Supreme Court ruled.

It would be “perverse” to limit the FSA’s power to prosecute white-collar criminals, the U.K.’s highest court said in a judgment today.

The agency’s roles include “the reduction of financial crime,” the court said. “One of the ways that the FSA might reasonably consider that this objective can be met is by prosecuting those who commit offenses of a financial nature.”

Today’s ruling follows plans announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne to abolish the FSA and give most of its power to the Bank of England. The FSA’s prosecutorial powers may be combined with those of the Serious Fraud Office and the Office of Fair Trading to create a proposed economic crime agency.

The case was brought by Neil Rollins, accused by the FSA of both insider dealing and money laundering. Steve Milner, Rollins’s lawyer, didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.