Compensation Bill [HL]

I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart. The amendment would omit the concept of authorisation being waived by the regulator. Our position is that exemptions from the regulatory regime should be very carefully controlled and should not be left to the regulator. This is, I suppose, tied up, in part, with the concept of the regulator needing to be someone entirely independent and sufficiently robust, which the current framework does not yet appear to deliver. Our view is that until we have a clear idea of what kind of regulator we will have, even on an interim basis, we cannot really consider the system of waivers by the regulator without careful checks and controls. Certainly, our preference would be for no waivers and only exemptions by the Lord Chancellor. The Bill does not specify that the regulator should be independent. Without that independence, any system of waivers is open to abuse. That is the last thing we want. In conclusion, I think the whole idea of waivers sends the wrong message, given the conduct of the sector to date.