1 Introduction
1. The proposal for the Regulatory Reform (Financial
Services and Markets Act 2000) Order 2007 was laid before the
House by the Cabinet Office on 18 December 2006. We published
our first stage report on 23 March. The draft Order was laid before
the House on 24 May, together with an explanatory memorandum by
the Treasury.[1]
2. The purpose of the draft Order is to reform wholesale
and retail financial markets as part of a ten-point action plan
of reforms, as set out in the Government's Pre-Budget Report 2005.
The Government intends that the draft Order will deal with a series
of burdens and restrictions contained in the Financial Services
and Markets Act 2000 and will also provide a more streamlined
approach to regulation.
3. The draft Order would remove or reduce burdens
in the following areas:
- authorisation requirements
in relation to partnerships whose members change [Article 3]
- unnecessary consultation between the FSA and
regulators in other countries in the European Economic Area [Article
4]
- obligations on the FSA to fulfil a number of
procedural requirements associated with discontinuing or suspending
the listing of a security [Articles 5-8]
- requirement on the FSA to issue a warning notice
in cases where the cancellation of a sponsor's approval has been
requested by the sponsor himself [Article 9]
- the FSA's powers to waive or modify any (as opposed
to some) of its rules in respect of authorised and unauthorised
persons [Articles 10-12]
- obligations of the FSA when consulting on guidance
[Article 13] and
- power of the FSA board to delegate the issuing
of guidance [Article 14]
4. The House has instructed us to examine the draft
Order against such of the criteria specified in Standing Order
No. 141(6) as are relevant. We are also required to consider the
extent to which the responsible minister has had regard to any
resolutions or report of the Committee or to any other representations
made during the period for Parliamentary consideration.[2]
Our discussion of matters arising from our consideration is set
out below.
1 Copies of the draft Order and explanatory statement
are available to Members of Parliament from the Vote Office and
to members of the public from the Cabinet Office. The draft Order
is also available from the Cabinet Office website: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/regulation/reform/orders/proposals.asp Back
2
Standing Order No. 141(7) Back
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