UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves has unveiled a major overhaul of the country’s financial services regulations, including changes to the contentious bank ringfencing rules, in a bid to revitalise the financial sector and increase investment.
According to The Financial Times, speaking from Leeds ahead of her Mansion House speech in London, Reeves dubbed the reforms “the Leeds reforms” and described them as “the widest set of reforms to financial services for more than a decade”. The proposed changes are aimed at loosening restrictions that have long been criticised for stifling bank capital efficiency and investor engagement.
One of the headline announcements is a review of the ringfencing regime that requires UK banks to separate their retail and investment banking operations. The planned revisions, to be led by City minister Emma Reynolds, could permit banks to offer more complex and risk-based products to retail customers, and ease restrictions on providing shared services across the ringfence.
The chancellor also laid out plans to relax other key regulatory areas. These include limiting the Financial Conduct Authority’s consumer duty rules from applying to business-to-business activities, and curbing the powers of the Financial Ombudsman Service, which some in the industry have accused of acting like a “quasi-regulator”.
Further changes include a proposal to digitise shareholder communications, phase out paper share certificates, and allow listed companies to raise more from share issues without the need for a prospectus. There will also be a review of bank capital requirements, as well as moves to encourage mortgage lending by helping smaller banks change how they calculate capital.
To bolster the UK’s appeal to international firms, the Treasury plans to launch a concierge service to support overseas financial services companies setting up in Britain. The government also intends to make it easier for consumers to invest by launching a high-profile advertising campaign promoting equity investments — a move that echoes the “Tell Sid” campaign of the 1980s.
The campaign will be backed by major financial institutions and is intended to encourage savers to shift funds from low-interest cash Isas to stocks-and-shares Isas. The Treasury claims such a shift could potentially leave savers £9,000 better off over 20 years. Additionally, investors in stocks-and-shares Isas will gain access to Long-Term Asset Funds, offering exposure to private equity and infrastructure investments.
Despite initially signalling changes to tax-free allowances for cash Isas, Reeves has backed away from those plans following industry pushback. However, she confirmed the government will continue to evaluate Isa reforms to strike a balance between cash and investment-based savings.
Reeves said, “We now need to work together to bring these to life, to make sure — whether it is more first-time buyers getting access to mortgages [or] more businesses getting access to capital to start up, to scale up, and then ultimately to list in the UK — that is now our job.”
The Leeds reforms represent a key step toward enhancing regulatory frameworks that support innovation in the UK financial sector. For insights into how these changes can contribute to sustaining long-term RegTech sector growth potential, explore our in-depth analysis on strategies for ongoing expansion and adaptation in compliance technologies.
Keep up with all the latest RegTech news here
Copyright © 2025 RegTech Analyst
Copyright © 2018 RegTech Analyst
