LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s government will not “put a number on” how much risk of consumer harm it is willing to accept in return for requiring regulators to cut costly red tape and help spark economic growth, its new financial services minister said.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government, in step with a global trend, blames over-regulation since the 2007-2009 financial crisis for choking investment and innovation and has promised to scrap rules that constrain growth.
Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) last month urged Starmer’s government to lay out an acceptable failure rate.
“We are not going to put a number on that. I don’t think that is something that a government minister would do. So I am cautious about it,” Emma Reynolds, who became financial services and City minister last month, told a parliamentary group.
Reynolds she was “painfully aware” that the watchdog was concerned it would take the blame if things went wrong.
FCA Chief Executive Nikhil Rathi has noted, as an example, that relaxing controls on mortgage lending to allow more first-time buyers onto the housing ladder could lead to more repossessions.
“I know the broader point the chief executive is trying to make … about who carries the can, and we are painfully aware of that. So that is something we are thinking about,” Reynolds told the House of Lords Financial Services Regulation Committee.
(Reporting by Kirstin Ridley; Editing by Alexander Smith)
