Clause 5 - The new Regulators

Part of Financial Services Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 10:00 am on 1 March 2012.

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Photo of Chris Leslie Chris Leslie Shadow Minister (Treasury) 10:00, 1 March 2012

I wholly understand the hon. Gentleman’s point. He makes a fair point. Sometimes regulators get things wrong in the way that they frame the changes that they are proposing. That is precisely why I want simultaneously to increase the accountability and scrutiny of regulators, so that we can test, shape and have a dialogue with the regulators on their proposals. The example that the hon. Gentleman gave is a classic example of a Minister standing up in the House and washing his hands of the matter by saying, “It is nothing to do with me. I cannot have any impact on the regulators,” when it came to that set of circumstances, even though there was a need to talk about how to improve the process.

Nevertheless, I do not think that the pendulum should go from one extreme to the other so that we end up with regulators who have no impetus to improve the professional standards and competencies of those in the sector, particularly in the wholesale sector, in a sensible way. The amendment is important. I did not expect to encounter so much difficulty. I talked to the Opposition Whip about dividing the Committee on various matters, and I did not regard this amendment as controversial. Given the resistance that I have encountered, I wonder whether we need to press the amendment to a Division. However, I will wait to hear what the Minister says.