The approach the Government has decided to adopt builds on the view of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service, as set out in its report, Review of Banking Policy: The Regulation and Supervision of Financial Institutions, of July 1998. The committee stated it believed a single, independent, regulatory authority should be established and given supervisory powers in relation to all commercial, friendly and voluntary bodies which handle funds or financial transactions, including electronic transactions, on behalf of third parties or other institutions in Ireland. In 1998 the Government agreed, in principle, to the establishment of a single regulatory authority for the financial services sector and established an implementation advisory group – known as the McDowell group – to advise it on how this could be achieved. This Bill has drawn very heavily, though not entirely, on the work of the group.