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Lords completes detailed check of Financial Services and Markets Bill

24 March 2023

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Members of the Lords concluded their line by line examination of the Financial Services and Markets Bill in committee stage on Thursday 23 March.

The Financial Services and Markets Bill seeks to make wide-ranging changes to the regulation of financial services in the UK. It would implement the outcomes of the Future Regulatory Framework review and establish a regime to regulate stablecoins, a type of cryptoasset, and protect access to cash.

Line by line examination

Committee stage is the first chance to check the bill in detail and make changes.

Thursday 23 March

Proposed changes  

Members speaking on the tenth and final day of committee stage put forward changes (PDF) (amendments) on subjects including:

  • regulating the sale of climate and nature offsets
  • further scrutiny of the regulations after the bill has been passed.

Catch up

Explore further information

Read background on the bill in the House of Lords  Library Financial Services and Markets Bill briefing.

Next steps 

Report stage, a further opportunity to closely scrutinise elements of the bill and make changes, is yet to be scheduled.

What's happened so far?

Committee stage day nine: Tuesday 21 March

Proposed changes  

Members speaking on day nine of committee stage put forward changes (PDF) (amendments) on subjects including:

  • limiting powers of the Prudential Regulation Authority
  • banking reform
  • safeguards in place for policy holders following failure of an insurance company.

Catch up

Committee stage day eight: Monday 13 March

Proposed changes  

Members speaking on day eight of committee stage put forward changes (PDF) (amendments) on subjects including:

  • interest rates for mortgage prisoners
  • powers of the Financial Ombudsman Service
  • liability for scams and fraudulent transactions.

Catch up

Committee stage day seven: Tuesday 7 March

Proposed changes  

Members speaking on day seven of committee stage put forward changes (PDF) (amendments) on subjects including:

  • capital requirements of banks financing fossil fuel exploration
  • trade of goods originating from tropical forest ecosystems
  • establishing banking hubs.

Catch up

Committee stage day six: Wednesday 1 March

Proposed changes  

Members speaking on day six of committee stage put forward changes (PDF) (amendments) on subjects including:

  • establishing an Office for Financial Regulatory Accountability within 12 months of the Act being passed
  • accounting for risk in financial services 
  • duties of pension providers and investment managers.

Catch up

Committee stage day five: Monday 20 February

Members speaking on day five of committee stage put forward changes (PDF) (amendments) on subjects including:

  • introducing a rolling programme of reviews and annual reporting to Parliament
  • establishing a Financial Services Regulators Committee of Parliament
  • ensuring recommendations of the Cost Benefit Analysis are made available to the public.

Catch up

Committee stage day four: Monday 6 February

Proposed changes  

Members speaking on day four of committee stage put forward changes (PDF) (amendments) on subjects including:

  • duty of the Financial Conduct Authority to report on financial inclusion
  • provision for investors to purchase bonds of £1,000 or less
  • banking services for low income communities.

Catch up

Committee stage day three: Wednesday 1 February.

Proposed changes  

Members speaking on day three of committee stage put forward changes (PDF) (amendments) on subjects including:

  • Financial Conduct Authority measurements of the legislation's impact on growth and competitiveness
  • requiring regulators to publish regular reports to Parliament on their performance
  • establishing regional mutual banks.

Catch up

Committee stage day two: Monday 30 January

Proposed changes  

Members speaking on day two of committee stage put forward changes (PDF) (amendments) on subjects including:

  • Financial Conduct Authority powers to undertake prosecutions for fraud
  • commercial lending to small and medium-sized enterprises
  • regulation of consumer credit.

Catch up

Committee stage day one: Wednesday 25 January

Proposed changes  

Members speaking on day one of committee stage put forward changes (amendments) on subjects including:

  • revoking retained EU law relating to financial services and markets
  • powers of regulators and the Treasury.

Catch up

Second reading: Tuesday 10 January

During second reading, members discussed the main issues in the bill and flagged up any concerns or specific areas where they thought amendments (changes) are needed.

Topics covered during the debate included:

  • financial inclusion and access to currency across the UK
  • responsibilities of financial service regulators
  • competitiveness of UK markets.

Members speaking

Baroness Penn (Conservative), Parliamentary Secretary at the Treasury, opened the debate and responded on behalf of the government.

Members speaking in the debate included:

Lord Ashcombe (Conservative) and Baroness Lawlor (Conservative) made their maiden speeches in the House of Lords during this debate.

Catch up

Find out more about the issues discussed: catch up on Parliament TV or read the Lords Hansard transcript.

Image: CCO

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