Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to bring section 27 (Regulatory principles) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 into force; and when they will lay regulations before parliament naming this date.

Section 27 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 adds the UK's net zero target and environmental targets into the regulatory principles for the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority.

The requirement for the regulators to have regard to the need to contribute to achieving the net zero target will come into force two months after Royal Assent, on 29 August. The commencement regulations that did this, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Commencement No. 1) Regulations 2023, were made on 10 July.

The requirement to have regard to the need to contribute to achieving the environmental targets will come into force at a later date. This requirement was added by amendment late in the passage of the Act, and the regulators will need time to consider how to operationalise this requirement. The government is working with the regulators to explore the earliest date that this requirement can come into force.