On 2^nd April, secondary legislation comes into force amending the Regulated Activities Order came into force, making “the administering of, and providing information to, specified benchmarks” a regulated activity under FSMA [the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000]. Initially, the only specified benchmark is BBA LIBOR. This means that until a new LIBOR administrator is appointed, the part of the British Bankers’ Association responsible for overseeing this benchmark became regulated. This statutory amendment in no way affects the manner in which LIBOR data is distributed, but it does mark another significant stage in the implementation of the Wheatley Review‘s recommendations. . .

http://www.bba.org.uk/media/article/libor-becomes-a-regulated-activity/press-releases/

In November 2012 the interim Financial Policy Committee recommended that the FSA takes action to ensure that the capital of UK banks and building societies reflects a proper valuation of their assets, a realistic assessment of future conduct costs and prudent calculation of risk weights. Where such action revealed that capital buffers need to be strengthened to absorb losses and sustain credit availability in the event of stress, the FSA should ensure that firms either raise capital or take steps to restructure their business and balance sheets in ways that do not hinder lending to the real economy.  . .

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/library/communication/statements/2013/methodology-note-on-calculating-capital-pressures

U.K. lenders are preparing to lobby the European Union’s chief banking regulator to reduce the number of employees hit by rules capping bonuses, two people familiar with the talks said. . .

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-02/u-k-banks-move-to-escape-eu-bonus-caps-by-defining-risk-taker.html

The U.K.’s new banking regulator must explain to a panel of British lawmakers how it intends to monitor and restrict lenders’ proprietary trading. . .

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-02/u-k-lawmakers-challenge-regulator-on-banks-proprietary-trading.html

After every crash there will always be a handful of experts pointing out that they had seen it all coming years before.  . .

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/9965215/Time-bomb-to-the-next-crash-is-ticking-as-debt-sales-surge.html