Friday, November 15, 2024

Britain must ‘welcome’ closer ties with Europe, says Andrew Bailey

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Commenting on the UK’s wider performance, Mr Bailey will add: “The UK looks rather more like other parts of Europe than this continent does relative to the US. The US has a better story to tell.”

While Mr Bailey will insist that he is “tak[ing] no position on Brexit per se,” he will add: “I do have to point out consequences.”

Ms Reeves will use her speech in the Square Mile to warn that measures brought in since the financial crisis to “eliminate risk” have had “unintended consequences” in holding back growth.

Describing financial services as “the crown jewel in our economy” Ms Reeves said she will seek to secure the City’s reputation as a “global success story”.

Announcing a series of reforms aimed at driving competition across financial services, Ms Reeves said she was changing the remit of the Bank of England and City regulator to be more “growth-focused”.

The Chancellor will overhaul the consumer redress aimed at giving customers and businesses “clearer expectations” about how compensation claims will be dealt with in the future, the Treasury said.

She will also confirm plans to merge local government and workplace pension schemes into a series of “megafunds” worth more than £50bn.

Post-crisis rules designed to make senior bankers and executives more accountable for corporate failures will also be relaxed, including replacing red tape that forces firms to prove leaders are “fit and proper” every year.

The Bank of England is already taking steps to relax pay rules that will allow senior bankers faster access to their bonuses.

Regulators have admitted that the UK is an “outlier” in making some of the highest paid bankers wait up to eight years for their bonus payments in a policy regulators conceded is “damaging for competitiveness”.

Ms Reeves has previously made clear that Labour will not reinstate a bankers’ bonus cap.

Ms Reeves has written to the Financial Conduct Authority, Prudential Regulation Committee, Financial Policy Committee and Payment Systems Regulator to underscore the importance of this focus.

She has said plans for pension “megafunds” could result in around £80bn to invest in businesses and infrastructure.

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