Speeches by Glen.

“I guess there are some applications for people who are not in the workplace at the moment—people with disabilities perhaps, people who are partially sighted using text-to-speech and so on. Do you see any scope or evidence from your members that this is an area where they are considering new options for recruitment?”

“Yes. That is transaction related. I am talking about the stress levels and the wellbeing issues.”

“Is there not a risk that, given the profiling that you can now do both of your customers and of your potential recruits, notwithstanding the obligations of the consumer duty there is going to be a huge temptation for large organisations to say, “We do not want people with these characteristics” and they can be screened…”

“I recognise that you have 50,000 or more entities, but in this space it seems to me that has some merit.”

“But not a list of finfluencers?”

“Yes, in the crypto space. Is there, perhaps, any merit in having a list of verified influencers who could be cited by yourselves as people who can be safely looked at for useful information?”

“The Committee is increasingly aware of the enormous responsibilities of the FCA, and the range of activities that we, collectively, in different iterations of Government, have asked you to take on.”

“It does potentially seem quite bewildering—there are difficult boundaries to navigate. The FCA’s handbook on the definitions of advice versus information centres on investment information. For example, if you had information on which debts to pay down first, would that be considered advice? There are some factual truth…”

“I think it is generally understood in the UK that there is a problem with a lack of financial awareness and financial education. It is not for this Committee today to go into why that has happened and how it can be remedied, but obviously there is a live curriculum review. That means that people need better financial e…”

“When we have the banks in front of us in the near future, which we may, are they going to be entirely content with what you have done for them through Strong and Simple and through prudential regulation?”

“Mr Woods, could I turn to recent events in terms of the tariffs and the volatility that we have seen with events from the US? What your organisation does is quite technical, and some of it is quite complex. Most people would not really understand the calibrations that you are having to deal with, but could you explain …”

“What about the problems in the non-bank sector and private markets? What impact have they had on PRA-regulated firms?”

“Since 2 April, what is the PRA doing differently? Are there yet any meaningful, enduring lessons that you have taken from what you have seen in the markets and the activity of the banks?”

“The key thing that I seem to recall is that what most banks are concerned about is the capital buffer requirements and some of the obligations that you put on them to, essentially, insure them against themselves, if you like. Is there any meaningful change that you see as likely to be necessary as a consequence of what…”

“The Chair wants to come on to these matters, so I do not want to intrude on her questions, but has there been any reduction in the co‑operation that you have seen since the new Administration took office?”

“Has it changed?”

“Can I just ask about reconciling the US’s approach to the EU’s approach and our approach? Mr Woods, you mentioned the opportunity that Brexit allows us to move more swiftly, but there are some that would play a narrative to you around the competitiveness of the UK banking sector being enhanced by the freedom that you h…”

“Having had the privilege of office, and a lot of interaction with you, Mr Woods, during that time, it is now interesting to reflect on the effect of anything that might have happened during that time. I want to home in, if I may, on two aspects. One is the Solvency II reforms, which were an attempt, as you have describ…”

“What do you think about parliamentary endorsement of or support for your execution of the secondary objectives? The purpose of doing so, which was to have growth and competitiveness in focus, was clear. This Government, as we have discussed and as Mr Dean has gone through, have tried to say what that means. I was alway…”

“Finally, on the Strong and Simple regime that you put in place for the smaller banks, I remember a consortium of them coming to lobby me on this.”