On 15 July 2025, HM Treasury (HMT) published the outcome of its Call for Evidence on the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, which forms a foundational component to the Government’s broader Invest 2035 Strategy originally launched in late 2024.

Background

On 14 November 2024, HMT launched a Call for Evidence to gather input on what would become the Financial Services Growth & Competitiveness Strategy (Strategy) which was published in the Spring of 2025. The Strategy is a core element of the UK’s 2035 Industrial Strategy that identifies financial services as one of the eight key growth-sector priorities, serving as a central guiding framework for the Government to deliver sustainable, inclusive growth for the financial services sector and secure the UK’s competitiveness as an international financial centre.

The Call for Evidence outcome consolidates over 150 responses from industry stakeholders, consumer groups, regulators and academics which ran from 14 November 2024 to 12 December 2024.

The Call for Evidence outcomes outline HMT’s strategic approach in response to strong industry consensus in the following areas:

  • Modernising regulation without compromising standards: The Government has responded through streamlining regulation and regulatory reform proposals as part of its strategy to eliminate regulatory burdens without undermining predictability and regulatory clarity for stakeholders.
  • Calling for an expanded approach to the Consumer Duty: The Chancellor has asked the Financial Conduct Authority to report back by the end of September to address concerns about the application of the Consumer Duty for firms primarily engaged in wholesale activity.
  • Greater collaboration and market access: The Strategy will establish the Office for Investment: Financial Services, a new dedicated concierge to guide and support international investors and the implementation of the Overseas Recognition Regime, a guidance document setting out the detail on a new harmonised approach to the UK’s regulatory recognition of overseas jurisdictions.
  • To deliver an environment necessary for firms to invest and innovate: The Government mentioned prioritising IS-8 sectors, removing financial services-specific barriers that hinder market disruption and remove barriers to entry for innovators.
  • The need for capital access: The Strategy mentions it will address long-standing risk aversion to retail investment to benefit UK citizens, UK capital markets and the wider economy ensuring capital markets support British businesses to raise the capital they need to grow and invest.
  • To improve the UK infrastructure for growing financial services clusters: The Government mentions this is essential in its 2035 Strategy whereby the Industrial Strategy sets out how the Government will deliver this through major transport projects, its National Planning Policy and boost investment across the UK to ensure growth.

Respondents also raised issues on the lack of competition in the sector and the need for the Government to take into account the diversity of financial services business models, the overreliance of the UK economy on financial services and the importance of tax for the competitiveness of the UK relative to other jurisdictions.

The Government will report annually on its progress on delivering the Strategy and set out the next policy steps on the five areas of focus.