Editorial & Advertiser disclosure

Global Banking and Finance Review is an online platform offering news, analysis, and opinion on the latest trends, developments, and innovations in the banking and finance industry worldwide. The platform covers a diverse range of topics, including banking, insurance, investment, wealth management, fintech, and regulatory issues. The website publishes news, press releases, opinion and advertorials on various financial organizations, products and services which are commissioned from various Companies, Organizations, PR agencies, Bloggers etc. These commissioned articles are commercial in nature. This is not to be considered as financial advice and should be considered only for information purposes. It does not reflect the views or opinion of our website and is not to be considered an endorsement or a recommendation. We cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information provided with respect to your individual or personal circumstances. Please seek Professional advice from a qualified professional before making any financial decisions. We link to various third-party websites, affiliate sales networks, and to our advertising partners websites. When you view or click on certain links available on our articles, our partners may compensate us for displaying the content to you or make a purchase or fill a form. This will not incur any additional charges to you. To make things simpler for you to identity or distinguish advertised or sponsored articles or links, you may consider all articles or links hosted on our site as a commercial article placement. We will not be responsible for any loss you may suffer as a result of any omission or inaccuracy on the website.

Headlines

Posted By Global Banking and Finance Review

Posted on January 29, 2025

Factbox-How UK finance minister Reeves plans to clear the way for economic growth

By Muvija M and Sam Tabahriti

LONDON (Reuters) - British finance minister Rachel Reeves spelled out her plans to revive the country's slow-moving economy on Wednesday, adding to recent pledges to reform investment and planning rules with a commitment to back airport expansion at Heathrow. 

Below are the key actions the government has announced to remove hurdles to growth since taking power last July:

PLANNING

The government plans to limit the number of legal challenges that opponents can bring to slow major infrastructure projects. 

At present, even legal challenges deemed to have little chance of success can be brought back to the courts three separate times. New rules are designed to ensure that in the weakest cases only one such challenge can be made.

The current first attempt - known as the paper permission stage - will also be scrapped.  

HEATHROW RUNWAY EXPANSION  

On Wednesday Reeves gave her backing for the construction of a third runway at London's Heathrow Airport. 

Successive governments have dithered about expansion of the site in west London, with politicians caught between the need to build more capacity and concerns about pollution and carbon emissions. 

Reeves said she wanted permission granted by the end of this parliament, which is due to end in 2029. The head of Heathrow, Thomas Woldbye, said it could be operational by 2035.

OXFORD-CAMBRIDGE CORRIDOR   

The government will further support the "growth corridor" that exists between the university cities of Oxford and Cambridge by working with industry and local government to speed up the building of homes, laboratories and transport networks, including a direct train line.  

The area, which is home to fast-growing companies spun out of the universities and to industry leaders such as AstraZeneca, could add up to 78 billion pounds ($96.8 billion) to the overall economy by 2035 if plans are implemented, industry experts say.

PENSION REFORMS 

New pension reforms are set to allow the release of what the government calls "trapped" corporate pension surpluses - estimated to be worth more than 100 billion pounds - to be invested in the wider economy.

The government has said legislative changes could enable all defined benefit pension schemes to change their rules to permit the use of such funds where there is trustee-employer agreement.

Reeves also wants to build a slew of "megafunds," with plans to consolidate about 60 defined contribution pension schemes and 86 Local Government Pension Schemes to make them more cost-efficient and large enough to bankroll ambitious projects. 

INVESTMENT

Reeves has said the National Wealth Fund and the Office for Investment will work with local leaders to drive regional economic growth by focusing on sectors such as technology, manufacturing and green energy.   

HOUSING

The government said there would be new mandatory housing targets, including building more homes where housing is least affordable. Local authorities have been tasked with coming up with timetables for new housebuilding plans or else risk intervention from ministers. 

The measures are part of the government's efforts to meet a pledge to build 1.5 million new homes in the next five years, including ordering local authorities to build more houses.  

REGULATORY RESET

The government has urged the country's regulators, including competition, energy and water, to remove barriers to economic growth, asking them to create a regulatory environment that boosts investment and innovation.

Reeves forced out the chairman of the country's competition watchdog last week, saying he did not agree with her views on how to speed up Britain's economy. 

FINANCIAL REFORMS

Earlier this month, the Bank of England (BoE) delayed the implementation of tougher bank capital rules by a year to January 2027 in order to gain clarity on what the United States will do under Donald Trump as president. 

In October, the BoE proposed moving to a five-year bonus deferral period for all senior managers, down from the eight years some face, relaxing rules that were put in place after the global financial crisis.  

Britain's Financial Conduct Authority in December outlined proposals for a new platform to enable trading in shares of privately-owned firms to help the country's lacklustre capital markets and encourage new IPOs.

The BoE is also planning to lower its proposed capital requirements for lending to small and medium-sized businesses. 

In 2023, the previous Conservative government scrapped a decade-old cap on banker bonuses.

($1 = 0.8055 pounds)

(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti and Muvija M; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Recommended for you

  • Baltic states switch to European power grid, ending Russia ties

  • Brookfield to invest 20 billion euros in AI projects in France, Tribune reports

  • Hamas says Israeli military withdraws from Gaza's Netzarim Corridor