On 15 July, Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her 2025 Mansion House speech, setting out the biggest overhaul of UK financial regulation in more than a decade with the new Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, now formally dubbed the “Leeds Reforms”, referencing the the city’s growing influence in the sector as well as the Chancellor's own political roots.
The package features four main strands:
- Easing the regulatory load and streamlining oversight
- Targeted support for key sub-sectors, including Fintech and asset management
- Changes to capital requirements to unlock lending and investment
- Measures to boost retail investment and savings
Alongside the speech, the Government published its Financial Services Sector Plan, outlining the Government’s plans to boost the financial services sector as a central part of increasing economic growth and security. This plan confirms the Government’s aims to strengthen the UK’s financial centre as a “global good”, achieved by working with industry to advance the UK's attractiveness. It forms part of the wider Industrial Strategy, complementing the other sector strategies published in June.
Interestingly, this year’s speech was dominated less by its content, and more by what was missing – with no mention of fraud (instead expected in the upcoming Fraud Strategy), or the much-trailed ISA allowance or bank levy. It was instead designed to signal competence and stability, as Labour’s backtracking on recent measures and poor economic growth figures have raised questions about how the Treasury will balance the books come the Budget in Autumn.
Although a significant intervention aimed at large technology firms was anticipated, current indications are that the Government will not pursue measures that could be seen as targeting American tech companies following the increasingly difficult relationship with the US Government.
However, the sector can expect a strong focus on data sharing between tech and telecoms companies and banks as part of the (expected) forthcoming Fraud Strategy in Autumn.