1 INTRODUCTION
Scope of the inquiry
1. The place of regulation in the economy and in
society as a whole has become a substantially more hotly debated
topic since our July 2008 report[1]
which looked at the work of the Better Regulation Executive (BRE)
and the progress of the regulatory reform agenda. The financial
crisis has provoked calls for greater regulatory intervention
in markets, but has also created economic conditions in which
there is further pressure to reduce unnecessarily burdensome regulation.
In this inquiry we sought to establish whether the fundamentals
of the regulatory reform agenda remain sound and to consider the
lessons of the past year. Specifically, we did not look at what
should change with regard to financial regulation as such, since
that is the responsibility of others. However, circumstances in
the financial sector have provoked the need for regulatory readjustment.
These changes have broader implications, and conclusions can be
drawn for the wider stage.
2. We started by asking whether the idiosyncrasies
of the financial sector require a unique regulatory approach.
We also asked whether better regulation could have avoided the
financial crisis or whether the principal problem was a failure
properly to implement existing regulations. Next we looked at
the success of different regulatory models, how they need to adapt
and the lessons to be drawn from the financial crisis for broader
regulation. Finally, we considered some of the commonly recurring
themes for the future that are not expressly connected with the
financial crisis. Those are addressed in Section 3 of this Report.
Our overall conclusions are summarised in the Conclusions section.
Acknowledgments
3. We received written evidence from 37 organisations
and individuals. We also held five oral evidence sessions. We
are grateful to all those who provided evidence to the Committee.
A list of witnesses is set out on page 30 together with a list
of those who submitted written evidence; the oral and written
evidence is published in a separate volume.
4. As in our last inquiry, we were assisted greatly
by the National Audit Office (NAO), particularly in their provision
of a supporting briefing paper. We are grateful for their assistance.
1 'Getting Results: the Better Regulation Executive
and the Impact of the Regulatory Reform Agenda'; 5th
Report of session 2007-08, HC 474-I Back
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