FCA to face Treasury Committee over dropped banking review

Rt Hon. Andrew Tyrie MP, Chairman of the Treasury Committee, said:

“The FCA’s decision to drop its review of bank culture does seem curious. The decision to undertake this review was, after all, part of the FCA’s business plan for 2015.

“The Committee will be taking evidence from John Griffith-Jones and Tracey McDermott, the Chairman and Acting Chief Executive of the FCA, on this subject on Wednesday 20th January.

“It is not the dropping of the review that is crucial. What matters is the full implementation of the reforms recommended by the Vickers and Banking Commissions and set out to improve conduct in banks. So this session will be a part of the Committee’s assessment of the FCA’s efforts to fulfil the enhanced statutory responsibilities given to it by Parliament over the last few years.

“The FCA has a tough job. Just as the banks are in the process of sorting themselves out, so are the regulators. There is a long way to go. The crash exposed shortcomings in standards in regulators almost as bad as in banks.

“As with parts of the financial sector these did not come to an end in 2009, as the extraordinary events of March 2014, set out in the Davis Report, illustrate.

“Getting it right – securing better protection for consumers and markets while at the same time ensuring they don’t make life unduly burdensome for business, from which everyone would ultimately be the loser – is a big undertaking. The Committee will want assurance from the FCA that it is up to the job.”