Richard Burgon
Main Page: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)Department Debates - View all Richard Burgon's debates with the HM Treasury
(8 years, 3 months ago)
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Harriett Baldwin
I am sure the right hon. Gentleman will welcome the announcement we are expecting on Wednesday from the Bank of England, the FCA and the Prudential Regulation Authority about their working together to back innovation in the financial sector. A key part of our long-term economic plan is to back competition in the banking sector, which is why I am pleased there were eight new entrants to the banking sector in the last Parliament. In this Parliament, we are aiming for 15.
Richard Burgon (Leeds East) (Lab)
Mr Speaker,
“interventions by HM Treasury and other bodies have raised questions…regarding the board’s independence”—
not my words but those of an FCA-commissioned external report on the FCA board published last week. How will the Chancellor demonstrate that the appointment of the new chief executive will not be yet another example of an overreaching Chancellor trying to get his own way?
Harriett Baldwin
It was good of the hon. Gentleman to turn up for Treasury questions this time—I guess there was not a Stop the War march or a picket line to join today. I can assure him that the Treasury has the power to appoint both the board and the chief executive and to set its remit, but from then on it has operational independence.