Financial Services Bill : first report of session 2012-13, report, together with formal minutes

The Financial Services Bill is the most important overhaul of financial regulation ever undertaken in this country.

The work of the Treasury Committee and the Joint Committee has secured improvements in some areas.

They have also gained a commitment from the Government to look again at the Bank of England's current antiquated corporate governance, and its accountability to Parliament.

The Bank must not be permitted to carry on with an outdated Court.

Instead of drafting a fresh Bill, the Government has presented Parliament with multiple amendments to the already extremely complex Financial Services and Markets Act.

The proposed legislation is therefore much more complicated than it need have been. Some of the key issues and recommendations include: that, the Court of the Bank of England should be given the statutory duty to undertake retrospective reviews of the Bank's performance; that, when public funds are at risk, the Chancellor of the Exchequer should be given the general power to direct the Bank of England; whether the Treasury Committee should have a role in the appointment and dismissal of the Governor of the Bank of England; amending the Bill to make competition an objective of the Prudential Regulation Authority; examining whether there is a way of requiring the Financial Conduct Authority in legislation to publish board minutes while not setting a precedent on the degree of intervention in how boards function; amending the Bill to ensure that Parliament may request retrospective reviews of the Financial Conduct Authority's work