Contemporary context
Since the world banking crisis in 2007, Parliament has had to approve the rescue of several banks and building societies costing billions of pounds. It has also had to consider five major Bills which are aimed at making sure that there is no repeat of the global crash.
Some of these bills were emergency and specific responses to the collapse of specific banks, and had to be approved very hurriedly. Others were long and complex bills which tried to write new rules to stop banks getting into trouble in future, or to make it easier to deal with them if they did.
Parliament also had the job of putting in place a regulatory system with completely new regulators and new powers for the Bank of England and to get them to work together to enforce the new rules.
Page last updated September 2016.