Healey rallies behind financial services bill despite opposition

John Healey has rallied behind the government’s financial services bill that allows the City to take advantage of post-Brexit freedoms, despite consumer groups claiming it would harm the redress system. The Chancellor said the bill, which was part of the package introduced in Sir Keir Starmer s King s Speech, would create a “clear set of standards” and avoid “confusion and inconsistency” for consumers. The legislation will put a time limit on complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) of 10 years. It will also introduce a new test where, if the firm can prove it followed the watchdog rules, the ombudsman must assume it acted fairly, even if the customer believes they got a bad deal. Under the new system, cases must be referred to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) where there is ambiguity. Treasury committee chair Meg Hillier said the bill could be seen as “moving the pendulum more towards the financial services sector and further from regulation to support co