Treasury Committee raises further concerns over lack of government respect for regulators

Questioning Andrew Griffith

Andrew Griffith, financial services and city minister, has said that the government respects independent financial regulators, despite concerns over new government legislation introduced to give ministers power to influence regulation.

Discussing the draft Financial Services and Markets bill before the Treasury Committee yesterday (11 October), Griffith said that while the government has the "greatest respect for our independent regulators", saying it was necessary to have a "safety valve". Griffith, who started in the role a month ago, defended the proposals for ministers to be able to overrule regulators on matters of "significant public interest", giving the example of regulators being unable to cope with questions of how genetic testing could influence the insurance market. However, when pressed by MPs, he was u...