The Treasury Select Committee, which is looking at the reform of financial regulation, has published, in three volumes, a report which contains some interesting comments questioning the achievability (or wisdom) of meeting the 2012 deadline for the new regulatory system, and the impact of the reform costs on the consumer.
Page 69 of Volume I contains a list of conclusions and recommendations. Paragraphs two to five suggest that the proposed timetable might need rethinking and, in addition, recommend that the Government waits for the outcome of the work being undertaken by the Independent Commission on Banking. Final recommendations from the latter are not expected to be published until September (see speech by Sir John Vickers).
Paragraph 39 informs us that the Select Committee “are unconvinced” by the FSA’s belief that the £50m transition costs will be borne by industry alone and urges the Treasury to give more detail about the assumptions underlying this figure.
Elsewhere, the ‘before and after’ interpretation illustrations on pages w4 and w5 of Volume III provide an interesting visual description of what could lie ahead in the world of regulation in the UK.
