Clifford Chance
UK Regulatory Reform: Adapting to the new approach to regulating insurers
11 May 2012
In the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008, there emerged a consensus of opinion both on the global stage and in the domestic arena that failures in regulation played a significant role in the crisis. In the UK, in particular, the view of the then Labour government was that that failure was caused by weaknesses in the Tripartite system of regulation. However, whilst the Labour government's proposals for change did not involve a wholesale dismantling of the Tripartite system, George Osborne made clear from the outset that the Coalition government believed that the Tripartite system "failed spectacularly in its mission to maintain stability" and nothing less than a "programme for radical reform" would suffice, which "places the judgement of expert supervisors at the heart of regulation".
This Client Briefing looks at some of the key proposals in the Financial Services Bill (the "Bill"), which was formally introduced into Parliament in January 2012 and highlights some of the regulatory challenges facing the UK insurance market.
