Speaking at a conference of the Association of British Insurers, Karel Van Hulle, of the European Commission, has called for better and less financial regulation across Europe, saying that better implementation and enforcement of current regulation was required, rather than new legislation. He said that the UK had to look at alternatives to regulation, with more scope for competitiveness and more regulation of the regulators, and hoped that the UK could be a model for the rest of Europe. Conservative MEP Jonathon Evans believes that the interests of the consumer were paramount and that Europe should follow Britains’ best practice, move away from more regulation and into more competitiveness.
Our view
Given the different standards and cultures, and indeed markets, it is very difficult within financial services to have one set of rules that fits all. The UK is a good model but is perhaps over burdened with red tape whereas some countries have no virtually consumer protection at all.
A relaxation of the paper mountain that we have to issue to clients in the UK would be welcome.