Treasury Select Committee warns against international competitiveness mandate for regulators

The Treasury Select Committee has warned against an "international competitiveness" mandate for the UK's financial regulators, which is embedded in the Financial Services and Markets Bill¹. The committee is the latest body to raise the concern, according to a June 2022 round-up of financial regulation news¹.

The Financial Services and Markets Bill was described as the most important bill in the Queen's Speech and a "bumper collection of financial regulation changes"¹. The competitiveness mandate sits within that bill¹.

The same round-up set out other regulatory changes in progress. The government plans to regulate Buy Now Pay Later, but Martin Lewis said the process was taking far too long, particularly as one-third of users already cannot afford repayments¹. Ministers were also reported to be watering down audit reforms¹.

On fraud, the round-up reported a 40% rise in automated push payment fraud, where criminals pretend to be someone the victim knows, and said the government plans to introduce new regulation in response¹. It also plans to overhaul consumer credit legislation¹.

Other items covered included regulators preparing to introduce capital rules for crypto, and the first strategic plan from the new UK Infrastructure Bank¹. The Bank of England's climate stress tests were said to show the financial services industry will lose hundreds of billions more if climate action comes too late¹. The round-up also noted that 39 insurers have stopped insuring new coal power projects, but a few remain, led by Lloyd's of London¹.

Why it matters for households

The competitiveness mandate would sit in the same bill as a wide set of changes to how financial firms are regulated¹. The round-up does not set out what the mandate would mean in practice for consumers, and no start date for the bill's measures is given¹.

Several of the changes described touch directly on household money. Buy Now Pay Later remains unregulated at the time of the round-up, with the government planning to act and one-third of users reported as already unable to afford repayments¹. A 40% rise in automated push payment fraud is cited alongside plans for new regulation¹, and an overhaul of consumer credit legislation is also planned¹. The round-up does not give dates for when any of these take effect¹.

What happens next

The Financial Services and Markets Bill was before Parliament, with the Treasury Select Committee's warning the latest objection to the competitiveness mandate¹. The round-up gives no timetable for the bill's passage or for the other measures it describes¹. Further detail on the bill and on financial regulation in the UK has been published separately¹.