Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions she has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on the adequacy of the regulation of peer-to-peer banking.

Treasury Ministers and officials meet with their counterparts at the Financial Conduct Authority often, as part of their regular engagement on various topics. This includes peer-to-peer lending, which the FCA is responsible for regulating.

Peer-to-peer investments are a higher risk investment where customers put their own capital at stake, without recourse to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

The FCA has investigative and enforcement powers and has commenced investigations into particular peer-to-peer collapses, certain of which are ongoing. This is also an area in which the Financial Regulators Complaints Commissioner has taken an interest and that work is ongoing.