Red tape is ‘boot on the neck of businesses', says Reeves
In a major City speech, the Chancellor will urge Britain's regulators to ditch their 'excessive caution' and rewrite rules for banks and building societies to help more people on to the housing ladder and deliver better returns for savers.
On Tuesday, Ms Reeves unveiled the biggest shake-up of financial services regulation in a decade, axing dozens of rules to boost the competitiveness of banks and insurers across the Square Mile.
She is set to address City leaders and financial watchdogs at London's Mansion House on Tuesday night alongside Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England Governor, to lay out her plans to boost Britain's financial services sector.
'In too many areas, regulation still acts as a boot on the neck of businesses choking off the enterprise and innovation that is the lifeblood of growth,' she will say.
'Regulators in other sectors must take up the call I make this evening not to bend to the temptation of excessive caution but to boldly regulate for growth in the service of prosperity across our country.'
Ms Reeves said slashing red tape would create a 'ripple effect' across the economy 'putting pounds in the pockets of working people'.
As part of the offensive, the Treasury has unveiled a string of City reforms targeting consumers, banks, insurers and international investors in an attempt to revive Britain's sluggish economy.
The measures, called the Leeds Reforms, will rewrite mortgage rules to make it easier for people to borrow up to 4.5 times their income when buying a house, as well as making it easier to remortgage.
Banks will also be allowed to start pitching stocks and bonds to ordinary investors through a new regime known as 'targeted support', having been banned from doing so in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
Major financial institutions such as Barclays and NatWest are also backing an advertising campaign with echoes of the 'Tell Sid' British Gas scheme in the 1980s to urge people to buy shares.
Earlier this year Ms Reeves wrote to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) along with a number of other watchdogs asking them for a list of five things to boost growth.
In a sign of her intent, the Chancellor effectively removed Marcus Bokkerink – the chairman of the CMA – after losing faith in his leadership.
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