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Back to the future: is Brexit Britain preparing to unleash Big Finance?

As powers move from Brussels to London, many fear the UK is unlearning crucial lessons from the global financial crisis.

By Chaminda Jayanetti
Back to the future: is Brexit Britain preparing to unleash Big Finance?
City of London skyline, London, England, United Kingdom | robertharding / Alamy Stock Photo
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Former British chancellor George Osborne isn’t known for his love of constraining capitalism. But even he realised the banking free-for-all of the 2000s went too far, ultimately plunging the economy into crisis.

In 2012, the Osborne-led Treasury passed new laws tightening the regulation of Britain’s financial sector after the global financial crisis of 2008.

The old regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) – which was seen as having failed to stand up to Big Finance in the run-up to the crash – was replaced with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulatory Authority.

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