<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Britain wants to grant ministers the power to overrule financial regulators including the Bank of England when they deem it in the public interest, the government confirmed Monday.</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who took office a week ago, had proposed the "intervention power" when he was finance minister in Boris Johnson's administration.</div><div><br></div><div>The UK government in July introduced legislation aimed at boosting the post-Brexit competitiveness of the powerful financial services industry.</div><div><br></div><div>That bill will now be amended by Sunak's finance minister Jeremy Hunt.</div><div><br></div><div>"We have confirmed our intention to bring forward an amendment to the Financial Services Bill, to include an 'Intervention Power' that will enable the Treasury to direct a regulator to make, amend or revoke rules where there are matters of significant public interest," a Treasury spokesperson said.</div><div><br></div><div>"The government has always been clear that this is a safety valve that must be balanced with clear accountability, appropriate democratic input and transparent oversight."</div><div><br></div><div>The bill also repeals hundreds of pieces of retained EU law after the country left the bloc in full in 2021.</div><div><br></div><div>Critics denounced it as reckless deregulation, particularly after the 2008 global financial crisis.</div><div><br></div><div>Sector professionals have applauded it, however, for bringing standards up to date.</div><div><br></div><div>In its current state, the bill already puts the industry's regulators -- the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England -- under increased scrutiny by parliament and the finance ministry.</div><div><br></div><div>Sam Woods, head of the BoE's Prudential Regulation Authority which oversees commercial banks, warned last week that overruling regulatory decisions would "undermine" Britain's "financial credibility".</div><div><br></div><div>FCA head Nikhil Rathi added that it was "vital" that the watchdog's independence was "not undermined by any proposed call-in power".</div><div><br></div><div>Nevertheless, vocal Brexit backer Sunak has promised a "big bang" in the UK finance sector after the deregulation of the 1980s.</div><div><br></div><div>Sunak took power after the implosion of the government of Johnson's successor Liz Truss, who resigned after her debt-fuelled tax-slashing budget spiked government bond yields and tanked the pound. -&nbsp; AFP</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>