“The question is how many rules do we need? I instinctively believe that less is more, on the twin grounds that, firstly, we have made a great many rules already but they don’t seem to prevent new problems arising, and secondly, what starts as an attempt to provide clarity frequently ends up creating complexity and barriers to change.”
Looking ahead, Griffith-Jones also outlined the FCA’s priorities in changes to the supervision model.
These include Project Innovate – a unit geared entirely towards promoting ‘innovative` businesses – as well as the its new Sandbox initiative, designed to allow businesses to experiment with new models in a protected environment.
Others are the regulator’s market’s based competition toolkit, the Fair and Effective Markets Review, and a review of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) methodology planned for next year.
Griffith-Jones’ speech mirrored the concerns of FCA acting chief executive Tracy McDermott, who spoke last month of the need for a “lighter touch” to regulation.
