Financial watchdogs will be subject to increased Treasury oversight of regulatory decisions under plans announced Monday by the U.K. government.
This increased oversight will be handled by a new Treasury unit, which will “challenge” regulations and decisions made by U.K. regulators, including the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority.
The government will “make our regulatory system focused and proportionate, by strengthening central government oversight of the regulatory reform agenda […] which will challenge unnecessary regulation and support progress against our commitment to reducing the administrative costs of regulation by 25% by the end of this Parliament,” the government wrote today in its industrial strategy industrial strategy documents.
It is unclear at this stage what powers this new unit will have to overrule the independent regulators. The Treasury did not respond to a request for comment.