The Financial Services Bill was introduced to Parliament on 26 January 2012 and has now been published.

Subject to the parliamentary timetable the Government's aim is for the Bill to gain Royal Assent by the end of 2012, and for the new system to be operational in early 2013. Alongside introduction of the Bill the Government has published a policy document 'A new approach to financial regulation: securing stability, protecting consumers', detailing the main changes the Government is making to the Bill as a result of this scrutiny, and further consultation.

Key changes include significant amendments to crisis management arrangements between HMT/BoE and the decision to transfer consumer credit regulation to FCA. The document also contains a summary of consultation responses received to the White Paper and draft Bill published in June 2011. In addition, drafts of specific MOUs have been published together with several draft SIs to support scrutiny of the Financial Services Bill.

Simon Morris has produced an analysis of the revised Financial Services Bill, "A new approach to financial regulation". He has looked closely at the policy, the key changes, the elements of the reforms and its impact on the Bank of England and the Financial Policy Committee, the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority. Click here to read Simon's report.

For further analysis of the new regulatory regime, please click here to access our RegZone page "The demise of the FSA: the new regulatory order". Please click here to go straight to our online timeline and tracker. This covers the progress and timetable for the transition to the new regime.

This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq

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The original publication date for this article was 30/01/2012.