- Financial Services and Markets Bill will maintain and enhance
the UK’s position as a global leader in financial services having
left the EU.
- The Bill will protect cash by ensuring continued access to
withdrawal and deposit facilities across the UK.
- Banks can be required by the regulator to reimburse victims
of authorised push payment fraud.
New laws to protect access to cash and help victims of financial
scams were announced by Her Majesty the Queen today.
The new Financial Services and Markets Bill, announced in today’s
Queen’s Speech at the state opening of parliament, will support
consumers by protecting access to cash. It will ensure the
continued availability of withdrawal and deposit facilities
across the UK, and that the country’s cash infrastructure is
sustainable for the long term.
Cash remains an important payment method for millions of people
across the UK, particularly those in vulnerable groups, and the
government is committed to preserving it.
The Bill will also enable the Payment Systems Regulator to
require banks to reimburse authorised push payment (APP) scam
losses, totalling hundreds of millions of pounds each year. This
will ensure victims are not left paying for fraud through no
fault of their own
These measures form part of wider plans to maintain and enhance
the UK’s position as a global leader in financial services,
cutting red tape while maintaining high regulatory standards and
ensuring the sector continues to deliver for individuals and
businesses.
Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said:
“We are reforming our financial services sector now we have left
the EU to ensure it acts in the interests of communities and
citizens, creating jobs, supporting businesses, and powering
growth across all of the UK.
“We know that access to cash is still vital for many people,
especially those in vulnerable groups. We promised we would
protect it, and through this Bill we are delivering on that
promise.
“We are also sticking up for victims of financial scams that can
have a devastating impact, by ensuring the regulator can act to
make banks reimburse people who have lost money through no fault
of their own.”
The Financial Services and Markets Bill delivers on the ambitious
vision for the financial services sector set out by the
Chancellor at Mansion House last year. It builds on the Financial
Services Act 2021, which was the first step in amending the UK’s
regulatory regime outside of the EU.
The Bill will make the most of the opportunities of Brexit, by
establishing a coherent, agile and internationally-respected
approach to financial services regulation that is right for the
UK.
The main elements of the Bill are:
- Revoking retained EU law on financial services and replacing
it with an approach to regulation that is designed for the UK.
This includes the Solvency II legislation governing the
regulation of insurers, which the government has committed to
reform.
- Updating the objectives of the financial services regulators
to ensure a greater focus on growth and international
competitiveness.
- Reforming the rules that regulate the UK’s capital markets,
the engine of the UK economy, to promote investment.
- Ensuring that people across the UK continue to be able to
access their own cash with ease.
- Introducing additional protections for those investing or
using financial products, and to make it safer and support the
victims of scams.
More details will be available when the Bill is formally
introduced.
