Liz Truss, the frontrunner in the Conservative Party leadership election, is calling for the merger of three major watchdogs in what would be a massive regulatory shakeup.
Truss, who is battling former Chancellor Rishi Sunak for the role of Prime Minister, is planning to merge the Financial Conduct Authority, the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Payments System Regulator into a single new body, according to City A.M.
Truss is currently favourite to become the next Prime Minister, standing 32 points ahead of Rishi Sunak in current opinion polls. According to City A.M, Truss is reported to be ‘personally critical’ of the FCA.
The FCA has recently come under scrutiny over its handling of the London Capital & Finance and Blackmore Bonds scandals that saw investors lose millions of pounds.
Earlier this year, the FCA’s 4000 staff voted in favour of taking industrial action in launching the first strike against the body since its launch nine years ago.
Meanwhile, the PRA – a division of the Bank of England – employs 1,350 people in regulating the UK’s largest insurers and banks. The PSR employs 130 staff and is a subsidiary of the FCA.
Voting in the UK’s Conservative Party leadership election was recently delayed after government cyber experts raised concerns over potential hacking of members’ ballots.
According to Security Week, a letter from party headquarters to members – revealed by the Spectator magazine – said ballots due to go out this week would arrive by August 11 at the latest.
Copyright © 2022 FinTech Global
