Insights

Last night, Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her first Mansion House speech to financial services leaders. After a turbulent start to government and a short honeymoon period, Reeves will hope this speech can help calm the nerves of business leaders. Much of Labour’s pre-election message was based on the bullish commitment to make the UK the fastest-growing economy in the G7. Whether the government can deliver on this ambition will be in no small part determined by the implementation of the reforms she announced.

The Chancellor criticised post-financial crash regulation, saying it has “gone too far” – setting a course for cutting red tape and arguing “The UK has been regulating for risk, but not regulating for growth.” Reeves also announced the “biggest pension reform in decades,” a plan to merge the UK’s 86 council pension schemes into a handful of pension megafunds. Alongside this the government plans to set a minimum size limit on defined contribution schemes in the private sector, which manage around £800bn of investments, to encourage the consolidation of the around 60 different multi-employer schemes.

Speaking alongside Reeves, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey hinted that Brexit had negatively impacted UK growth and welcomed a stronger relationship with Europe, as well as warning about the pressures of an ageing population.

In the coming year, the Government will publish a number of major consultations following this speech, which we have summarised below with some additional key points.

Reform to unlock innovation and growth

• The Chancellor has written to the Financial Conduct Authority, Prudential Regulation Committee, Financial Policy Committee and Payment Systems Regulator to ensure a greater focus on supporting economic growth.
• The Government has committed to “reinvigorate the UK’s capital markets” by legislating to establish PISCES by May 2025 – a world-first regulated market for trading private company shares where transfers will be exempted from stamp duty taxes on shares.
• The Financial Ombudsman Service framework will also be modernised so that it continues to play a vital role for consumers to get redress while giving clearer expectations around its decisions for consumers and for financial services firms. The consumer credit industry will be looking to see whether claims management companies are charged for bringing claims.
• The government will also consult on replacing the current Certification Regime, which applies to staff below senior management level.
• Further action is being taken to drive innovation in payments with the publication of a National Payments Vision. This was called for by Joe Garner’s payments review and widely anticipated.

Stability – confidence to invest

• The government will publish the first-ever Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy in the Spring.
• The government will propose focusing on five priority growth opportunities in financial services to take advantage of the UK’s existing strengths and maximise the potential for growth – FinTech, sustainable finance, asset management and wholesale services, insurance and reinsurance, and capital markets. A Call for Evidence will be published alongside the announcement.

Investment through financial services

• Two consultations will be published ahead of the Pension Schemes Bill in the Spring to merge defined contribution pension schemes and the Local Government Pension Scheme in England and Wales into megafunds.
• The Treasury will publish draft legislation to boost investor confidence in sustainable companies by regulating ESG ratings providers, publish a consultation on the value case for a UK Green Taxonomy, commit to consult on economically significant companies disclosing information using future UK Sustainability Reporting Standards and launch a set of integrity principles for voluntary carbon and nature markets ahead of a consultation in the new year.
• The government is delivering one of the key recommendations of the Transition Finance Market Review by co-launching the Transition Finance Council with the City of London Corporation. The government will also consult in the first half of next year on how best to take forward the manifesto commitment on transition plans in support of its ambition to become the global hub for transition finance –  ensuring the UK’s regulatory framework is growth-focused, internationally competitive and maintains the UK’s status as a global financial hub.
• A call for evidence on reform to credit union common bonds in Great Britain.
• The Chancellor will announce an upcoming Financial Conduct Authority consultation to help households make better-informed decisions about their finances, as part of the government and regulator’s joint Advice Guidance Boundary Review.

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