Viewpoint: Labour's regulatory record
When Labour swept into office in 1997 they arrived with a manifesto with much to say about financial services. They launched into their promised reforms of the institutions governing the sector, making the Bank of England independent for the first time since it was nationalised by Labour in 1946.
Next on the agenda was a single regulator to replace the numerous ones left by the Tories. This became the Financial Services Authority three years later. Social and financial exclusion were also a priority, although progress was harder. Individual Savings Accounts replaced Personal Equity Plans but became another way for the better off to save without paying too much tax.
Other reviews followed, not least that on generic advice under Aegon boss Otto Thoresen in 2007, the policy jargon having
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