Lords complete first day of FSM Bill Report stage

During the first day of Report stage in the House of Lords on the FSMB, the sessions debated key matters including:

• amendments in relation to the revocation of retained EU law to require meaningful Parliamentary scrutiny of changes. Lord Sharpe noted the Government objections, including that in principle Parliament should not be able to amend Statutory Instruments, that the scrutiny proposed would take up too much Parliamentary time and that the Joint Committees could not deal with it.  There was strong support for the position agreed in relation to the REUL Bill to be replicated in the FSMB. Support for the amendment came from all parties. Baroness Penn, responding, noted the Commons discussions on the REUL Bill, and also noted that the amendments now proposed would introduce rare parliamentary procedures, including a “super-affirmative” procedure. She said the Government expects a combination of formal consultation and informal engagement as appropriate, and intends to be open and transparent. Lorde Sharkey withdrew his amendment, while noting that the short term outcome would be unsatisfactory but he hoped for a better long term solution;
• the need to ensure continuity of services of CCPs if Royal Assent of the FSMB comes too late for some. The amendment was agreed;
• an amendment that would require reports on the progress of actions to repeal EU law: this was withdrawn following some Government reassurance;
• a set of amendments pushing forward sustainability disclosures and requirements were agreed;
• a proposal to provide the RDC with greater autonomy was hotly debated but ultimately withdrawn; and
• a proposal slightly to amend the wording around the new competitiveness objective and to better focus on the advancement of the UK economy was debated. Baroness Penn, responding, said the focus was not new and that regulatory objectives should properly reflect the financial services sector’s critical role in supporting the wider economy. The amendments were withdrawn or not moved.

The second day takes places on 8 June