On January 16, 2015, a consultation paper was published setting out proposals to reform the UK financial services trade association landscape. The proposals emerge from a steering committee set up to assess the UK trade association framework. The steering committee is made up of ten retail and commercial banks in the UK — Barclays, Clydesdale Bank, HSBC, Lloyds Banking group, Nationwide Building Society, Santander UK, The Co-operative bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland, TSB Bank and Virgin Money. The key proposal is for a single trade association representing the payments, mortgage, retail, wealth, SME and commercial banking sectors to be formed to ensure more effective and efficient service to the industry. Trade associations that would contribute to this effort include the Asset Based Finance Association, Association for Financial Markets in Europe, British Bankers' Association, Council of Mortgage Lenders, Finance & Leasing Association, Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association, Investment Management Association, Payments Council, Tax Incentivized Savings Association, TheCityUK, UK Cards Association and Wealth Management Association. Responses to the consultation are due by April 10, 2015 following which recommendations and a proposed action plan for implementing the changes will be published. A final recommendation is expected in May 2015.
The consultation paper is available at: http://consultation-fs-tradeassociations.com/assets/Trade%20Associations_Consultation%20paper.pdf.
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