Regulating the Financial Industry
This month I have been attending further stakeholder meetings with HMRC and the Treasury to discuss the regulation of the financial industry and how this might work in practise.
It is a real privilege to be at the forefront of one of the most important conversations in the industry at the moment. As you might expect, I am unable to share the details of those conversations, but what I can share is my argument for why I feel this is such an important piece of legislation to fight for.
In simple terms, I find it incredulous that in an age of intense regulation across so many areas of society, that the financial industry is not included, and anyone can call themselves an accountant or bookkeeper. While a large proportion abide by the Anti Money Laundering legislation and hold membership with an accredited professional body, it is estimated that up to 35% of those offering financial services to the general public are operating with no formal supervision. Most are not insured or qualified, which leaves the business owner totally exposed to being exploited with no way of being recompensed for the damage caused to their businesses or having any effective mechanism to hold these people to account.
Unfortunately, all too frequently I have experienced business owners coming to Women Who Count asking for help to untangle the mess a previous incompetent accountant or bookkeeper has left their finances in. The accompanying story is usually that the individual simply disappeared, leaving costly problems to fix.
My argument is that if there was a national register for all those providing financial services, then this would go some way to giving business owners a way of vetting individuals before engaging their services and a way of holding them accountable.
I would like to see the unscrupulous practitioners removed from the marketplace as they erode the integrity of the industry and from HMRC’s perspective, it would go a long way to reducing the Tax Gap which currently stands at approximately £35 billion.
I would welcome your feedback on this subject, so I can bring forward your comments to the next round of talks.
