Deregulation of the UK Securities Market: The Prudential Issues

In December 1985 the government unveiled its proposals, in the shape of the Financial Services Bill and accompanying proposals for protecting investors, for the regulation of ‘investment businesses’ in the post-‘Big Bang’ era. This followed earlier publication of a White Paper on ‘investor protection’, which itself resulted from consideration of the Gower Report on Investor Protection published in January 1984. The events that led up to this legislative reform are reviewed in this chapter and a critique is provided of the government’s proposals for protecting ‘investors’ in the deregulated securities market of the future.