UK: The Financial Institutions (Reform) Bill 2010-12

The Financial Institutions (Reform) Bill 2010-12 was introduced in Parliament late in February, as a Private Member's Bill under the Ten Minute Rule. The Bill has several aims, including the introduction of a strict liability regime for directors of financial institutions and requiring such directors to provide personal bonds as additional bank capital. There is little chance that the Bill will become law. This said, the Government will be consulting later this year on the liability regime for bank directors, an issue that was highlighted by the Financial Services Authority in its report on the failure of Royal Bank of Scotland and one which has attracted recent attention from policymakers and academics (see, e.g., here and here).