Government denies ‘race to bottom’ on regulation as Hunt loosens City rules – business live

In other banking news, Santander UK has been fined over £107m by the FCA for failing to properly enforce anti-money laundering (AML) controls.

The FCA penalised Santander for operating ineffective systems to adequately verify the information provided by customers about the business they would be doing.

The bank also failed to properly monitor the money customers had told them would be going through their accounts compared with what actually was being deposited, the FCA explains.

In one case, a new customer opened an account as a small translations business with expected monthly deposits of £5,000. Within six months it was receiving millions in deposits, and swiftly transferring the money to separate accounts.

The failings created a risk of ‘prolonged and severe’ money laundering, says Mark Steward, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA:

‘Santander’s poor management of their anti-money laundering systems and their inadequate attempts to address the problems created a prolonged and severe risk of money laundering and financial crime.

‘As part of our commitment to prevent and reduce financial crime, we continue to take action against firms which fail to operate proper anti-money laundering controls.’

Santander UK chief executive officer Mike Regnier has insisted the bank takes its responsibilities regarding financial crime “extremely seriously.”

Regnier says Santander has made changes since the problems were identified.

“We are very sorry for the historical anti-money laundering (AML) related controls issues in our Business Banking division between 2012-17 highlighted in the FCA’s findings.

“While we took action to address our AML issues once they were identified, we accept that our AML framework at the time should have been stronger.

“We have since made significant changes to address this by overhauling our financial crime technology, systems and processes.

“Today over 4,400 staff are focused on preventing financial crime and we continue to invest to meet our responsibilities and keep our customers and communities safe.”

The Treasury has announced its reforms to the financial services industry, which it says will taking forward its ambition for the UK to be “the world’s most innovative and competitive global financial centre.”

As expected, it includes reforming the ‘ring fencing’ regime. Those rules were introduced after the 2008 crisis, and force lenders to keep their investment banking arms seperate from their consumer banking division, to protect ordinary customers in the event of another financial crash.

It also includes a review into reforming the Senior Managers & Certification Regime, which held top bankers more responsible for conduct at their banks (again, intended to avoid the mistakes that led to the financial crisis).

Here’s the full list of The Edinburgh Reforms, as we are to known them:

• Reforming the Ring-Fencing Regime for Banks

• Issuing new remit letters for the PRA and FCA with clear, targeted recommendations on growth and international competitiveness

• Publishing the plan for repealing and reforming EU law using powers within the FSM Bill, building a smarter regulatory framework for the UK

• Overhauling the UK’s regulation of prospectuses

• Reforming the Securitisation Regulation

• Repealing the Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products (PRIIPs) Regulation, and consulting on a new direction for retail disclosure

• Intending to repeal EU legislation on the European Long-Term Investment Fund (ELTIF), reflecting that the new UK Long-Term Asset Fund (LTAF) provides a better fund structure for the UK market

• Launching a Call for Evidence on reforming the Short Selling Regulation

• Publishing a draft Statutory Instrument to demonstrate how the new powers being taken forward in the FSM Bill will be used to ensure that the FCA has sufficient rulemaking powers over its retained EU payments legislation

• Consulting on removing burdensome customer information requirements set out in the Payment Accounts Regulations 2015

• Welcoming the PRA consultation on removing rules for the capital deduction of certain non-performing exposures held by banks

• Bringing forward secondary legislation to implement Wholesale Markets Review reforms

• Establishing an Accelerated Settlement Taskforce

• Committing to establish the independent Investment Research Review

• Commencing a review into reforming the Senior Managers & Certification Regime in Q1 2023

• Committing to having a regime for a UK consolidated tape in place by 2024

• Consulting on issuing new guidance on Local Government Pension Scheme asset pooling

• Increasing the pace of consolidation in Defined Contribution pension schemes

• From April 2023, improving the tax rules for Real Estate Investment Trusts

• Announcing changes to the Building Societies Act 1986

• Delivering the outcomes of the Secondary Capital Raising Review

• Consulting on reform to the VAT treatment of fund management

There is a risk that today’s proposals forget the surge in risk-taking that led to the 2008 crisis, warns Victoria Scholar, head of investment at interactive investor:

“UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is a major sweep of reforms to the financial sector being described as the second ‘Big Bang’. The UK Treasury said it plans to reform short selling, consult on removing the rules for capital deduction at banks and reform securitisation. There is expected to be a sweep of more than 30 regulatory reforms as the UK desperately tries to maintain its position as a key global financial hub post Brexit.

Hunt is trying to prove to the financial sector that he is very much pro-business and in favour of the City of London as a key growth engine to the economy. However there is a risk that the Treasury is acting myopically, quickly forgetting the pre-2008 excessive risk taking that ultimately led to the global financial crisis and the introduction of new regulation to prevent another similar catastrophe.”

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.

Neary 15 years after the financial crisis, the UK government is to set out a package of post-Brexit reforms to boost its financial services industry today, which chancellor Jeremy Hunt claims will spur competition and growth.

Dubbed the “Edinburgh reforms”, the plans will outline how the government intends to “review, repeal and replace” rules introduced to avoid a repeat of the 2008 crash, to protect savers and the taxpayer.

Today, though, ministers argue these protections risk holding back London’s banks and insurers as they compete against overseas rivals.

Changes are expected to include relaxing ring-fencing capital rules to lighten the burden on smaller, retail-focused banks, and reviewing the senior managers regime, which held top bankers more accountable for their conduct and competence, and for transgressions on their watch.

Hunt is also expected to confirm City regulators will be given a new “secondary objective” of delivering growth and competitiveness, to run alongside their primary duty of protecting consumers and maintaining financial stability.

That “competitiveness and growth” objective is controversial – it risks undermining the reputation of Britain’s regulators, if they aren’t seen as focused on keeping the country’s financial institutions and markets safe and sound, and running well.

But City minister Andrew Griffith has denied that the govermment is embarking in a ‘race to the bottom’ by changing City reforms.

Griffith has told the Financial Times it is “absolutely the right time” to revisit the rules brought in after the 2008 crisis.

“Regulations were right for the time,” Griffith said, adding;

“The banking system, I’m assured, is in a much better position in terms of its balance sheet and its understanding of the liabilities that it is managing.”

Here’s our preview piece on Hunt’s reforms, in which my colleague Kalyeena Makortoff explains that Hunt is trying to rebrand what his predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng claimed would be a post-Brexit “Big Bang 2.0” for the City.

That was a reference to the sweeping deregulations of the 1980s under Margaret Thatcher’s administration, which were credited with elevating London as an international financial centre.

The agenda