The Treasury Committee is today launching a new inquiry into the
Future of Financial Services.
The Committee will look at the future of financial services after
the Brexit transition period ends.
It will examine how financial services regulations should be set
and scrutinised by Parliament, as EU directives will cease to
govern new rules and regulations.
It will also consider how regulators are funded and the extent to
which financial services regulation should be consumer-focussed.
Commenting on the launch of the inquiry, , Chair of the Treasury Committee, said:
“The financial services sector is a crucial component of the
UK economy. There are choices to be made by the UK Government
that will have long-lasting impacts on the future of the
sector.
“As part of our new inquiry, we’ll examine how the sector can
best take advantage of the new trading environment, what
regulatory changes should be made, and what role Parliament
should play in influencing and scrutinising such changes.
“We’ll make a series of recommendations for how the
Government, public bodies and the sector itself can ensure that
the UK remains a premier financial centre.”
--Ends--
Notes to Editors
- The Future of Financial Service inquiry webpage, where
evidence can be submitted, will be on the Treasury Committee
website here. The full terms of
reference for the inquiry are as follows:
Terms of Reference
- How can the UK financial services sector take advantage of
the UK’s new trading environment with the rest of the world?
- What changes should be made to the UK’s financial services
regulations and regulatory framework once the UK is independent
of the European Union?
- What should the Government’s financial services priorities
be when it negotiates trade agreements with third countries?
- Should the UK open its financial services markets to
external competition from countries outside of Europe, or
should the UK maintain the current regulatory barriers that
apply to third countries?
- What skills and immigration policy will the UK financial
services sector need once the UK has left the European Union?
- How can Government policy and the UK regulators facilitate
the emergence of FinTech and new competition; develop new areas
of growth for the financial services sector; and promote the UK
as the best place to incubate new financial technologies and
firms?
- Through what legislative mechanism should new financial
regulations be made?
- What role does Parliament have to play in influencing new
financial services regulations?
- How should new UK financial regulations be scrutinised?
- What progress has the Government and regulators made in
facilitating key financial services equivalence agreements with
third countries; and would an alternative mechanism serve the
interests of the UK market better?
- How should financial services regulators be funded?
- Should the mandate and statutory objectives of the
financial services regulators change to include wider public
policy issues?
- How important is the independence of regulators and how
might this best be protected?
- How can the balance between lighter touch regulation and
prudential safeguards be best secured?
- How should consumer interests be taken into account when
considering potential regulatory changes?
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the European Union
model of scrutinising financial services legislation?
- Should the UK seek to replicate the EU’s model for drafting
and scrutinising financial services regulation?
- The deadline for evidence submissions is 5pm on Friday 8
January 2021.
- The previous Treasury Committee launched an inquiry called
The
Future of Financial Services in early 2019. Due to the
extensions to the Article 50 process, the inquiry did not hold
any oral evidence sessions as the Committee waited for a
definitive outcome from the exit process. Due to the 2019
General Election, the inquiry ended without taking any oral
evidence.
