The Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP spoke at Mansion House on 20 June, and outlined government’s plan to safeguard and expand the financial services industry, despite the uncertainties of Brexit and its likely impact on the economy.
- There will be a Treasury-led review of the regulation and infrastructure of the payments landscape.
- To address the uncertainty regarding the UK’s future relationship with the EU, as well as the proliferation of overlapping regulations, they will gather a summit of all relevant regulators in the coming weeks, with the aim of improving coordination between the regulatory authorities. This will lead to the Treasury call for evidence ‘before the summer’.
- Further, the government, in conjunction with the FCA and Treasury, will review the regulatory and policy framework in place, to provide for innovations in FinTech and create an enabling environment for SMEs and other businesses. This will partly involve the introduction of a new agenda for Open Finance, building on the Open Banking initiative, to give small businesses and consumers power over their financial data.
- Mr Hammond also outlined the government’s plan for Global Financial Partnerships, including the issuance of a second Sovereign Sukuk on the London-Shanghai Stock Connect by the UK, changes in the migration regime to meet the demands of its businesses and shoring up of the UK’s domestic skills regime.
- Finally, he announced the launch of the Impact Investment Institute, with the aim of encouraging investment to address social challenges while simultaneously seeking financial return, and
- charged institutions represented at the function to take steps to aid the government achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.