Chancellor’s speech

On 15 July 2025, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivered her second Mansion House speech.

Key points in the speech include:

  • The financial services sector is critical to the Chancellor’s ambitions for the UK as it is one of the largest and most successful sectors in the UK.
  • A new Listings Taskforce with the Office for Investment will attract businesses to IPO in London.
  • The Pension Schemes Bill will be signed into law in the next few months. The creation of Defined Contribution and Local Government Pension Scheme mega funds will mean larger and more powerful pots of funding invested productively across the country.
  • The government is “rolling back regulation that has gone too far in seeking to eliminate risk”.
  • The Senior Managers and Certification Regime is being streamlined.
  • The government is delivering the most significant reform to the Financial Ombudsman Service since its inception including proposing to limit ten years for claims.
  • The Office for Investment’s new concierge service will launch by October this year. It will provide a tailored service to companies considering setting up and expanding in the UK.
  • Changes are being made to capital requirements to allow UK banks to do more lending and release more capital for investment into infrastructure and businesses.
  • The Financial Policy Committee will review the overall level of bank capital needed for UK financial stability and will report back to the Chancellor by the end of this year.

BoE speech

The Bank of England (BoE) has published the Mansion House speech by Andrew Bailey (Governor, BoE) entitled The future of the multilateral economic system, and some news on the UK payments infrastructure. In his speech Mr Bailey covers the world economic situation and the need to refocus and restore multilateral institutions. The second concerns payments in the UK.

When discussing payments in the UK Mr Bailey states, among other things, that:

“There is an urgent need for innovation now in the area of payments, and the opportunity is there, no doubt about that. There may well be a role for stablecoins going forward, but I don’t see them as a substitute for commercial bank money. Moreover, our job will be to ensure that those stablecoins that purport to be money are safe. Perhaps there may also be a role for retail central bank digital currency, but I remain to be convinced why the natural next step is to create a new form of money rather than put digital technology into retail payments and bank accounts.”

Papers

The Government and the regulators have published numerous papers connected with the Mansion House speeches and our summaries of these are set out below:

HM Treasury

Financial Conduct Authority

Bank of England / Prudential Regulation Authority

Our comments

Overview

Jonathan Herbst:

“One can truly say that the floodgates of deregulation have opened and when one puts the measures together they form a serious package. It is interesting that this is being done in a measured and incremental way – through a series of individual proposals – rather than being a Big Bang 2 for the City, which is what people were talking about.

“There is no sense of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. This is to be welcomed, as there is general consensus that regulatory reform needs to be data-led and to reflect feedback from both industry and consumers.

“The Chancellor is setting out an ambitious but measured agenda for reforming UK financial services. From regulatory updates to capital markets and pensions, the direction of travel is clear. The key now will be ensuring the legal framework keeps pace – providing firms with the certainty and clarity they need to adapt with confidence.”

Inward investment

Jonathan Herbst:

“As part of the broader package of encouraging industry, the realisation of the plans for a concierge service, a dedicated contact point for developing firms and the further capitalisation of the British Business Bank reflect a desire from the UK to be seen as open for business.

“When one combines this with the various other reforms in areas such as senior managers liberalisation, the Ombudsman and consumer duty, this demonstrates a commitment to a growth agenda which is surely welcome. Of course, the tax and employment pieces of the jigsaw are equally important but the basic direction of travel in the regulatory world is hard to argue with.”     

Capital Markets and the FCA’s New Listing Rules

Jonathan Herbst:

“The anticipated reforms to the UK’s capital markets regime, including streamlined listing rules and enhanced retail access, are a clear signal that the UK is serious about reclaiming its competitive edge. However, regulatory clarity and investor protection must evolve in tandem to ensure sustainable growth.”

Fintech and the UK’s Innovation Agenda

Jonathan Herbst:

“Positioning the UK as the global hub for fintech and digital finance requires more than ambition – it demands infrastructure, regulatory alignment, and access to capital. The government’s digital strategy and support for tokenisation and digital gilts are promising signals.”

Reform of the Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SM&CR)

Jonathan Herbst:

“Reforming SM&CR to reduce unnecessary complexity while preserving accountability is a delicate balancing act. If done right, it could enhance regulatory effectiveness and reduce compliance burdens without diluting standards.”

Overseas recognition regimes

Hannah Meakin:

“The new guidance on overseas recognition regimes is a pragmatic step toward a more outcomes-based approach to considering other jurisdictions. It offers greater clarity for international firms operating in the UK, while reinforcing the importance of regulatory cooperation. The challenge will be maintaining consistency and transparency as the framework evolves.”

Wholesale Financial Markets Digital Strategy

Hannah Meakin:

“The digital strategy for wholesale markets signals a clear commitment to supporting the use of technology to modernise financial infrastructure. It is surprising how relatively paper-based and manual many processes that support the plumbing of the wholesale trading, settlement and payments systems still are today. It will be exciting to see the transformation that results from using new technologies such as DLT, tokenisation and AI with the proactive support of government and regulators, and under the leadership of a new Digital Markets Champion.”

Central Counterparties (CCPs)

Hannah Meakin:

“The industry has been eager to see what the UK might change as it brings EMIR into domestic legislation and regulatory rules post-Brexit. The proposed developments focus on CCPs specifically but are an important next step for both UK and overseas CCPs and their users. There is some detail to follow but it looks like we are heading for more streamlined and proportionate processes for authorisations, model reviews, market access and QCCP status.”

Financial Ombudsman Service

Katie Stephen:

“The proposals on the reform of the FOS deliver more power into the hands of the FCA in certain respects, such as allowing referrals to the FCA in order for the regulator to express views on the interpretation of FCA rules. Firms will likely want to understand the detail to be included in the FCA handbook around the circumstances in which they can make referrals if the FOS does not, whether the decisions will be published and the extent to which challenge mechanisms may be available in the event that they disagree with FCA pronouncements.  The consultation paper seems to recognise that judicial review is of limited assistance given it can only examine the lawfulness of a FOS determination such as whether the FOS followed correct procedure, rather than looking at the merits of an individual case.  In addition, firms may be reluctant to invite regulatory scrutiny through referrals relating to the application of FCA rules, particularly in cases involving potential wider implications.

“The proposed adaptation of the fair and reasonable test would be a significant step, as it requires the FOS to find that a firm has acted fairly and reasonably if it has acted in line with what the FCA intended the rules to achieve. This requires firms to interpret what the FCA was intending to achieve through the rules and leaves open the possibility that firms may have acted in good faith, but without having fully understood this. There is also room for the courts to take a different view of the law and for potential inconsistencies to arise between the regulatory framework and decisions of the courts in situations such as the motor finance cases but the consultation does not envisage the possibility of firms referring matters beyond the FCA rules such as the application of consumer credit legislation.”  

Matthew Gregory:

“The long stop date of 10 years for complaints to the FOS is helpful in drawing a line in the sand but it remains to be seen what the exceptions to this will be and firms may need to be prepared for a short term increase in historic complaints as consumers seek to beat the implementation of this cut-off if it is carried through.

“The proposals would delivery greater flexibility to the FCA to investigate mass redress events and implement industry wide redress schemes but this will require the FCA to act at pace and decisively in order to avoid long running pauses in complaints handling which create uncertainty for firms and consumers.”