On 8th July 2009 the HM Treasury (“UK Treasury”) published its long-awaited White Paper titled “Reforming Financial Markets” (the “White Paper”).1

The White Paper is part of a comprehensive review by the UK government (“Govt.”) of UK financial regulation and supervision, which has been ongoing since the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2007 and the ensuing turmoil in the UK financial markets.

As such, it provides the Govt.’s formal response to the proposed actions recommended in the “Turner Review: A regulatory response to the global banking crisis” (18th March 2009) (the “Turner Review”),2 which set out in-depth analyses of the causes of the financial crisis and identified a number of key areas requiring regulatory reform.

Some reforms have already been implemented, notably the special resolution regime and new bank insolvency procedures under the Banking Act 2009, which empower the “Tripartite Authorities,” consisting of the Financial Services Authority (“FSA”), the UK Treasury and the Bank of England (“BOE”), to deal with failing banks more effectively.3

Building on the recommendations of the Turner Review, the White Paper proposes extensive reforms to UK banking regulation in order to strengthen the UK banking and financial sector and to enable it to better withstand future financial shocks.

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