FSA notes that it intends for existing waivers and rule modifications to be grandfathered as at 1 April 2013 to the new regulator that has the rule to which the existing waiver or modification relates. From 1 April onwards, any variation of an existing waiver will be assessed against the factors set out in s38A FSMA, as amended by the Financial Services Act 2012. Otherwise, it should be possible for waivers to remain in place until they expire, as long as: the requirement in question remains; the underlying rules remain unchanged; and no circumstances arise under which the new regulator considers that a grandfathered waiver or rule modification no longer satisfies the criteria set out in s38A FSMA as amended. Further information on transitional arrangements for waivers will be provided before legal cutover, and will be consistent with the approach set out in the Financial Services Act 2012 (Transitional Provisions) (Rules and Miscellaneous Provisions) Order 2013. As at 1 April 2013, any waiver or modification application which has been submitted to FSA and remains under consideration will be passed to the new regulator that has adopted the rule to which the application relates. The relevant regulator will then assess the application against the factors set out in s38A FSA 2012. It is noted that as the factors under s148 FSMA (which applies to waiver applications determined before 1 April 2013) differ from those under s138A FSMA as amended, firms may be required to submit additional information.

PCBS has published the corrected evidence from hearings held on 10 January (attended by Dr Diane Coyle, Enlightenment Economics, John Fingleton, former CEO of OFT and Clare Spottiswoode of the Independent Commission on Banking); 21 January 2013 (attended by economists) and 14 January 2013 (attended by economists and, separately, by Andrew Browne of BBA).

PCBS has published the uncorrected evidence for the hearing held on 14 January 2013 attended by Gavin Shreeve (IFS School of Finance) and Simon Thompson (CBI)

The uncorrected evidence from the hearings held on 6 January 2013 follows. Separate hearings were attended by (a) execs from Which? and CAB; (b) Angela Knight, formerly of BBA; (c) Clive Briault, formerly of FSA; (d) Jon Pain, formerly of FSA; (e) Peter Davis, formerly of CC . Specific topics include PPI; LIBOR; TCF and competition in the retail banking sector.

PCBS has published corrected evidence in respect of hearings held on 17 December 2012 attended by Carol Sergeant (formerly of FSA and Lloyds Banking Group) and, separately, Christine Downton (Pareto Partners) and on 4 December 2012 attended by given by Andrea Leadsom MP and execs from VocaLink.

Among other matters, the Government will take steps to reduce the regulatory burden that might constrain infrastructure investment by: introducing legislation in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill and amending the CMA framework to increase the incentives for regulators to make better use of their concurrent competition powers, to seek pro-competition solutions to market failures.

Text of the above, given at BBA, follows. Topics include: factors driving excessive risk-taking in the financial system leading up the crisis and key aspects of the reform of banking. Specific topics discussed include resolution arrangements – he suggests the prospect of taking losses via resolution gives debt holders a strong incentive to monitor banks’ risk taking – he suggests that management should be mainly paid in subordinated debt; ringfencing; .changes in prudential regulation; microprudential supervision and macroprudential policy).

The European Commission has opened formal proceedings to investigate whether Gazprom, the Russian producer and supplier of natural gas, might be hindering competition in Central and Eastern European gas markets, in breach of EU antitrust rules.

The EC has published the above, together with an accompanying working paper and an introductory speech by Joaquín Almunia, who notes work on competition in the financial sector as well as antitrust cases in the sector.

Text of the above, given at the Global Competition Review conference, follows. He discusses competition in the banking sector, including consideration of how a well-functioning retail banking market would work; FCA’s likely approach; new technology in the banking sector and OFT’s future plans in this area. It is noted that a review of the personal current account market will be launched “shortly” and will include a roundtable to be held in October 2012 to gather views on the proposal from all relevant stakeholders. Clive Maxwell notes that OFT is likely to look at the banking market more broadly, focusing on areas such as SME banking. He concludes: “if we do not see real change from banks, then a more radical approach needs to be considered. We cannot just continue working with business on incremental change if this does not deliver sufficient results. … So if ‘plan A’ cannot succeed in making the OFT’s vision of the banking market a reality, the obvious question is whether the concentrated market structure of UK banking is the problem. And one way to consider this question would be ‘plan B’ - a reference to the Competition Commission”.