Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed payments innovation objective on the international competitiveness of UK financial services.

The Government has announced that it will seek to introduce a new secondary objective for the Bank of England to support safe innovation in vital payment systems and new forms of digital money, while ensuring that financial stability remains the Bank’s first priority.

This should help regulation keep pace with new technology, supporting the attractiveness of the UK as a location for payments innovation and investment.

The objective would not directly affect the process by which individual firms obtain regulatory authorisation or approval. The Bank does not operate an FCA-style authorisation regime for entities within scope of this objective. The objective instead concerns how the Bank exercises regulatory functions in this area.