Debate Pack
Access to and acceptance of cash during the Covid-19 outbreak
There will be a Westminster Hall debate on access to and acceptance of cash during and beyond the Covid-19 pandemic on Thursday 3 December at 1:30 pm.
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Insight
‘Equivalence’ with the EU on financial services
Equivalence is a system which can be used to grant domestic market access to foreign firms in certain areas of financial services.
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Research Briefing
Economic crime in the UK: a multi-billion pound problem
Money laundering, fraud and other economic crime could run to billions of pounds per year in the UK. The Treasury Committee has found various regulatory and legislative failings in the way in which these crimes are being tackled. The Government’s July 2019 Economic Crime Plan draws together all the work being conducted by the public and private sector. The RUSI said that as at September 2020, 23% of actions in the plan had been completed, 59% were in progress, 9% were overdue and 6% either had no due date or had been paused.
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Research Briefing
The European Investment Bank
The European Investment Bank lends to projects that contribute to growth and employment within Europe. This briefing gives a short overview of the Bank's membership and operation, and its future relationship with the UK.
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Research Briefing
Debts to public bodies: are Government debt collection practices outdated?
There is growing concern that the debt collection practices of public sector bodies have fallen behind the standard of regulated creditors in the private sector. Practices have often been criticised as being unfair to the debtor and inefficient, possibly resulting in higher long-term costs to the taxpayer. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on debts owed to public bodies is not yet known, but it is likely to have led to further indebtedness.
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Research Briefing
UK-EU future relationship negotiations update: is an agreement possible?
This paper provides an update on the UK-EU future relationship negotiations following intensified negotiations in June and July 2020. It explores the prospects for an agreement in time for the end of the post-Brexit transition period on 31 December
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Research Briefing
Coronavirus: Support for household finances
This Commons Library briefing paper outlines the measures introduced by the Government, and other authorities, to support household finances during the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.
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Research Briefing
Pension transfer advice
Many people have been given unsuitable financial advice to transfer their valuable Defined Benefit pensions into less suitable and secure Defined Contribution schemes. Poor advice has led to growing compensation payments from the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Some have speculated that this issue may represent a large mis-selling scandal, the full scale of which may only come to light in the event of an economic downturn.
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Research Briefing
The UK-EU future relationship negotiations: summary of positions
The tables in this paper provide a summary of the UK and EU positions in the future relationship negotiations, based on their proposed draft treaty texts and other publicly available statements
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Research Briefing
The UK-EU future relationship negotiations: process and issues
The UK and EU begin negotiations over their future relationship this week. This paper outlines the UK and EU's objectives, the main issues of contention and the process being followed in the negotiations
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Research Briefing
Cryptocurrencies
This briefing introduces the idea of 'cryptocurrencies' -- what they are, how they work, the benefits and challenges they offer, and how regulators have reacted to them.
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Research Briefing
Brexit: a reading list of post-EU Referendum publications by Parliament and the Devolved Assemblies
This reading list brings together briefings on Brexit by the Parliamentary libraries and the Devolved Assembly research services with reports by Parliamentary and Devolved Assembly committees following the result of the EU Referendum on 23 June 2016.
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Research Briefing
Protecting consumers from unfair high-cost credit
High-cost credit covers a range of financial products including bank overdrafts, loans, buy-now-pay-later and rent-to-own. Each product has its own benefits to consumers, but they also carry a risk of consumer harm, especially for vulnerable customers. This harm may include high repayment costs and a greater risk of problem debt. The regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, has been taking action to reduce this harm and it has ongoing monitoring work in this area. This briefing describes the action that has been taken over recent years to stop unfair high-cost credit practices and gives information on the support available to those who find themselves in problem debt.
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Research Briefing
Bank branches: why are they closing and what is the impact?
The number of bank branches in the UK roughly halved from 1986 to 2014 and closures are expected to continue. Concerns have been raised about the impacts on vulnerable people, small businesses and the viability of the cash system. While measures are in place to reduce the impact of branch closures, a number of parliamentary committees have concluded that more needs to be done.
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Research Briefing
Trade in services and Brexit
While the UK prepares to leave the EU, the future of services trade has received less attention in the public debate than trade in goods. The UK’s exposure to services trade means however that businesses in many sectors across the economy will be affected. This paper looks at the complexity of international trade in services and discusses what could change under the different future scenarios.
Total results (page 3 of 16)