Mervyn King rocks the government's boat
In this evening's Mansion house speech Mervyn King has rocked the UK government boat by suggesting that the Bank of England needs increased powers to control and regulate the UK financial sector. In a rerun of what is happening in the US, Mervyn King believes the Bank of England needs to regain the power it lost some time ago when the Financial Services Authority (FSA) was introduced to the mix. This would be to be completely against the UK government's hopes for the future and could severely impact upon the short to medium term regulatory system.
The UK government, despite criticism from various quarters, looks likely to give the FSA further powers and new responsibilities with regards to the UK financial sector. Even though the Bank of England ultimately pulls many of the financial strings, from a regulatory point of view much of the power has been taken away from Mervyn King. Whether this evenings comments from the governor of the Bank of England will register within the UK government remains to be seen but it appears that all is not well between the UK government, the FSA and the Bank of England. Are we seeing the emergence of a potential power struggle?
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