Profile: Howard Davies: City Enforcer? It's a Fair Cop the Head of the Financial Services Authority Is a Witty, Worldly Puritan. but He's Ready to Get Tough on Offenders. Peter Koenig Reports

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WHEN tomorrow at a conference in London's Docklands, Howard Davies officially launches the Financial Services Authority (FSA) - the City's new super-regulator - you can bet that whoever introduces him will make a joke about his hopeless support for Manchester City.

Davies, 46, grew up in Manchester. As a grammar school boy destined for Oxford and a glittering career, he became fanatically faithful to his home city's second football club - the only loser he has ever backed.

His support for City is now as much a part of his public persona as his reputation for having a big brain and versatile mandarin career - he has been personal assistant to the ambassador to …