Financial regulation in the United Kingdom from the Big Bang to post-crisis reforms

Before the recent crisis, financial regulation in the UK was taken as an international model. Many of the most hotly debated questions in the literature on financial regulation – such as the relative merits of rule-based versus principles-based regulation – arose under the UK experience. From the early 1980s onwards, London’s position as a global financial marketplace became crucial. Therefore, Britain’s skills in influencing global and European financial regulation was seen as a source of national comparative advantage. The global financial crisis, which severely hit the UK financial system and the reputation of their regulators, challenged its regulatory model.