Financial Services Regulation Committee to take evidence from building societies

At 10.05am on Wednesday 11 December, the House of Lords Financial Services Regulation Committee will hear evidence from:

• Debbie Crosbie, Chief Executive Officer of Nationwide Building Society
• Robin Fieth, Chief Executive Officer of the Building Societies Association
• Julie-Ann Haines, Chief Executive Officer of Principality Building Society
• Steve Hughes, Chief Executive Officer of Coventry Building Society.

This session, which is open to the public, will be held in Committee Room 4 of the House of Lords and streamed live and on demand on Parliament TV.
 
Questions the committee is likely to ask in these sessions include:

• The Government wants to see more risk-taking in the financial sector. What changes are needed for this to happen?
• The committee has been told that regulators are not scaling their oversight in proportion to the potential risk a sector or firm presents. How does this inhibit competitiveness and growth?
• Are the regulators and Government doing enough to rationalise the regulators’ remits through Memoranda of Understanding?
• The committee has been told that the regulators and the Government take too long to deliver reform and that the outcomes are not always commensurate with the time taken to achieve them. What could a more streamlined approach look like?
• What are witnesses’ reflections on the FCA’s approach to engaging with industry?
• To improve transparency are there any additional metrics which it would be helpful for the regulators to publish?

This is the 12th evidence session of the committee’s inquiry into the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority’s (PRA) secondary growth and competitiveness objective. This objective was introduced following the passage of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023.
 
More about the Financial Services Regulation Committee
 
The Financial Services Regulation Committee was created in early 2024 following the passing of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 which repealed retained EU law for financial services and established a new framework for the regulation of financial services in the United Kingdom.
 
The committee is chaired by Lord Forsyth of Drumlean. Its members are: Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted; Baroness Donaghy; Lord Eatwell; Lord Grabiner; Lord Hill of Oareford; Lord Hollick; Lord Kestenbaum; Lord Lilley; Baroness Noakes; Lord Sharkey; Lord Smith of Kelvin; and Lord Vaux of Harrowden.
 
The committee’s work can be followed on its website.