As scheduled, the Public Bill Committee scrutinising the FSM Bill had its first day of scheduled evidence sessions on 19 October, and an updated amendment paper was published. The Committee heard in the morning from, among others, Jon Cunliffe and Vicky Saporta of the BoE and PRA.
Amendments proposed for debate included:
- a proposed definition of “financial inclusion” and proposal to require FCA to have regard to financial inclusion as part of its consumer protection objective and to lay an annual report on financial inclusion;
- a proposal from Andrew Griffith to make a number of changes that would have the effect of requiring FCA to consult on a wider range of measures contained in the Bill than the current drafting requires; and
- the proposal first made at the start of the process by Stella Creasy to require all BNPL credit services and other lending services that have non-interest-bearing elements to be subject to FCA regulation, and for Treasury to make regulations requiring this within 28 days of the Act being passed. The Regulations should include measures that ensure all individuals accessing the services have access to FOS, are subject to credit checks before being granted a loan and are protected by s75 CCA