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Reforming Financial Markets

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Stewartby, brings a considerable degree of relevant experience to this subject and the House always listens to his views with great interest. I draw his attention to the Turner report, which, coming after the audit of the FSA’s supervision of Northern Rock, built up a strong case for strengthening supervision. That, in particular, is captured by the FSA’s enhanced supervision programme. Shortcomings in supervision were apparent here, as in other countries, but there has been a step change. The FSA is talking about being more intrusive and about close and continuous supervision. It is talking about a more strategic engagement with supervised bodies than was previously the case. We have seen that issue being addressed.