Last night the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne MP, delivered his latest Mansion House speech. The speech had a number of important regulatory themes which include the following:

• the UK Government wants British financial firms and markets to be at the heart of financing China’s expansion. Currently two thirds of all renminbi payments outside China and Hong Kong now take place in London. In addition, the Chancellor announced that in the next few weeks, subject to market conditions, Britain will be the first western nation to issue a sovereign sukuk – an Islamic bond;
• HM Treasury, the Bank of England and the FCA will conduct a comprehensive review of standards in fixed income, currency and commodity markets;
• the UK Government will extend the new powers that have been put in place to regulate LIBOR to cover further major benchmarks across foreign exchange, commodity and fixed income markets. HM Treasury will consult on a full list of benchmarks to be covered by this autumn and the new regime will be in place by the end of the year;
• the senior managers regime set out in the Banking Reform Act 2013 will be extended to cover all banks that operate in the UK, including the branches of foreign banks; and
• the UK Government will be introducing new domestic criminal offences for market abuse rather than opting into the new EU Directive on criminal sanctions for insider dealing and market manipulation.

View Mansion House 2014: Speech by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, 12 June 2014