“FCA to tear down regulatory barriers in response to government growth calls”

Jan 27, 2025 | Financial Services

An independent (financial adviser’s) view

If those ‘regulatory barriers’ can be so easily torn down, it begs the question, why were they erected in the first place? The other oft-heard refrain is ‘health and safety gone mad’. Again, why? Well, nearly 14,000 a year died in workplace accidents in the 1960s, compared with around 130 now. In 2010,  at the peak of the financial crisis, much of which was blamed on ‘soft lending’, there were 350,000 mortgages in arrears, there are now less than 95,000. Any adviser, including me, would welcome less regulation if that means less forms to fill in, boxes to tick and never-to-be-read back-covering paperwork to hand out to clients. What we don’t want is a return to banks lending to anyone with a pulse, shammers and scammers getting away with murder until someone notices far too late and growth at all costs to benefit the few (hedge funds and private equity, I’m looking at you). But I’m sure they know what they’re doing and, if anyone asks, I think our regulator is doing a great job…

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