New body to reduce 'build up of risk' in financial system

The ABI wants a new "risk watchdog" to help prevent another financial crisis.

Director General Stephen Haddrill wants the Government to set up the new watchdog, called the Macro-prudential Committee, by the end of the year.

The ABI’s long-awaited review report on corporate governance, called Restoring Market Confidence, says: “In making forward assessments, the committee would send a signal to the markets about the expected direction of asset price risk and help markets to adjust even as the banks were building their capital.”

The Governor of the Bank of England could chair the committee, and then senior staff form the bank and the FSA could also be members, the ABI proposes.

Haddrill has also called on the Government not to over-regulate the insurance, as it could damage the UK’s position as the second largest insurance market in the world.

For more information, read next week’s Insurance Times.