The Telegraph, July 29, Barney Reynolds
As the country awaits its new prime minister, one central question of policy for the candidates and country will be how to boost the rate of economic growth and unleash the talents and entrepreneurship in Britain’s businesses.
If we are to excel economically, painstaking work is now necessary to reform our legal and regulatory arrangements.
Take financial services as an example – one of the foremost UK sectors, where the City is a global leader. Success needs free, competitive and well-regulated financial markets that allow for the most efficient allocation of capital, and power our economy.
The markets need rules. It is for the regulators to ensure that market participants have the information they need, that bad actors do not disrupt market pricing, and that buyers with long term contracts can be assured that sellers will generally be around to deliver on their obligations.
The UK’s business-friendly regulatory regime has safely managed the financial markets for generations. We managed to avoid the worst effects of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. We were, however, let down by the European Union’s regulatory system, with all its flaws, in the financial crisis of 2007-8, which taught the EU, and reminded us, that systemic risk – i.e., risk arising from the system itself – is another factor to be managed by the regulators.
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