Liz Truss to launch ‘war on technocrats’ by merging City watchdogs
Tory leadership frontrunner Liz Truss is planning an immediate shakeup of the City’s major regulators if she wins the race to become prime minister.
Truss is planning to merge the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), and Payments System Regulator (PSR) into a single, new body.
The Conservative party MP’s plans comes as part of the Truss’ “wider war on technocrats,” according to the Financial Times.
Truss, who is reported to be personally critical of the FCA, is currently the favourite to win the contest to become the leader of the Conservative party, in polling 32 points ahead of rival Rishi Sunak.
The plans for the shakeup of the City’s top watchdogs comes as the FCA has come under scrutiny over its handling of the London Capital & Finance and Blackmore Bonds scandals that saw investors lose millions.
In May, the financial watchdog’s 4,000 staff voted in favour of taking industrial action in launching the first strike against the body since it was launched in 2013.
The PRA, a division of the Bank of England, employs 1,350 people in regulating the UK’s largest banks and insurers.
The PSR employs just 130 staff as a subsidiary of the FCA in acting as the world’s first payments system regulator.
The FCA and PRA refused to comment. The PSR and Liz Truss’ leadership campaign have both been approached for comment.