LONDON — U.K. Treasury chief Rachel Reeves said Tuesday that she’ll cut red tape for banks and finance firms so that “informed risk-taking” can help kickstart Britain’s sluggish economy.
The government is trying to regain the economic initiative after rocky weeks of costly U-turns and figures showing the British economy contracted for two months running.
Reeves announced plans to pare back some of the regulations introduced after the 2008 global financial crisis, which was triggered by risky lending. That includes reforms to “ring-fencing” rules enacted to separate banks’ retail and investment banking activities, and a review of the amount of capital banks must hold.
She said it was the widest set of reforms of financial services in more than a decade.
“We are fundamentally reforming the regulatory system, freeing up firms to take risks and to drive growth,” Reeves said on a visit to Leeds in northern England.
Reeves will