Call for written evidence

CALL FOR EVIDENCE

Call for evidence

The Joint Committee invites interested organisations and individuals to submit written evidence as part of the inquiry.

Below are specific questions about the details of the draft Bill. The Joint Committee would appreciate written submissions on any of these questions on which you have evidence to contribute. It is not necessary to address every question.

In addition to the detailed questions the Joint Committee is interested in whether the draft legislation will or could better:

• prevent another financial crisis,
• handle a financial crisis,
• deal with bank failure and protect the public purse.

The Joint Committee is also interested in whether the proposals in the draft Bill will increase or decrease the risk or regulatory arbitrage of financial businesses.

The following detailed questions are also of interest:

1. Is the separation of prudential and conduct regulation into a "twin peaks" system the right approach?
2. What lessons can be learnt from the approach of other countries to regulation of the financial sector?
3. Is it appropriate to make such major changes to the regulatory system by way of amending legislation, rather than starting afresh?
4. Are the accountability and governance arrangements for the Bank of England, FPC, PRA and FCA satisfactory?
5. Are the FPC's objectives the right ones? Is the concept of financial stability adequately understood for the FPC to be able to perform against its objectives?
6. Should the FPC be limited in the actions it can take which might affect the growth of the financial sector?
7. How will the interaction between macro-prudential and monetary policies be handled by the FPC and the MPC?
8. Has the right balance been struck between the powers of the FPC and the powers of the Treasury?
9. Can Parliament take an informed decision about the proposals for the FPC without details of the macro-prudential tools at its disposal?
10. Does the draft Bill adequately deal with the risks posed by the shadow banking system?
11. Are the PRA's objectives clear and appropriate?
12. Are there any risks in the Government's proposed 'judgement-based' regulation?
13. Is the Government's proposed approach to 'orderly' firm failure satisfactory?
14. Given that the PRA and the FCA will inherit FSA staff does the draft Bill do enough to ensure a new regulatory culture and a more proactive approach to regulation? Will these two new bodies have staff with the appropriate skill and expertise?
15. Are the FCA's primary objectives appropriate? Is significant emphasis given to the promotion of competition?
16. Are the responsibilities of the FCA towards the regulation of markets appropriate?
17. Does the draft Bill strike the right balance between the responsibilities of consumers and firms? Are the FCA's new powers in the area of consumer protection appropriate?
18. Are the prudential regulatory responsibilities of the FCA towards FCA-only regulated firms given sufficient emphasis and detail?
19. Will the new regulatory arrangements reduce the risk and cost of dealing with miss-selling of financial products?
20. Are the proposals for co-ordination between the PRA and FCA clear and adequate? What would be the advantages and disadvantages of having a Single Point of Contact and/or a joint rule book for dual-regulated firms?
21. How do the proposals in the draft Bill fit within the new European regulatory regime? What freedoms and constraints will the UK have to operate within that regime?
22. Does the draft Bill contain any proposals or omissions, not covered by the questions above, which cause concern?

You need not address all these questions. Short submissions are preferred. A submission longer than six pages should include a one-page summary. Submissions should be in Word format where possible.

Submissions, which should be original and not copies of papers written for the Government consultations or any other inquiry, must be received by Friday 2 September 2011.

A copy of the submission should be sent by e-mail to financialservicesbill@parliament.uk.  Submissions in Word format are preferred. Paper submission can be sent to: The Clerk, Joint Committee on the draft Financial Services Bill, House of Lords, London, SW1A 0PW.

Personal contact details supplied to the Committee will be removed from evidence before publication. However, personal contact details will be retained and used for specific purposes relating to the Committee’s work, for instance to seek additional information or to send copies of the Committee’s report.

Evidence becomes the property of the Committee, and may be printed, placed on the Internet or circulated by the Committee at any stage. You may publicise or publish your evidence yourself, but in doing so you must indicate that it was prepared for the Committee. Evidence published other than under the authority of the Committee does not attract parliamentary privilege. If your evidence is not published, it will in due course be made available to the public in the Parliamentary Archives.

 
All communications to the Committee about the inquiry should be addressed through the clerk or the Chairman of the Committee, whether or not they are intended to constitute formal evidence to the Committee.