UK Lawmakers Warn Treasury Off Watering Down Finance Regulations

(Bloomberg) -- The UK’s Treasury Committee has warned the government against unduly weakening financial regulations, with a panel of lawmakers saying the Treasury shouldn’t forget the lessons of the financial crisis.

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The lawmakers said that pursuing international competitiveness in the short term is unlikely to lead to economic growth or international competitiveness in the long term if it was achieved by weakening regulatory standards in a report on the future of financial services regulation.

Mel Stride, chair of the Treasury Committee, said it was vital regulators were not pressured to “inappropriately water down” regulations. Still, there were opportunities to simplify some regulatory burdens following the UK’s exit from the European Union.

And the committee recommended bolstering the roles of the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority by adding a secondary objective to promote long-term economic growth and financial inclusion.

“It is also important that the regulators have an objective to promote growth, not just for the financial services sector, but for the wider economy,” Stride said in a statement.

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