Why Deregulation Isn’t Growth—It’s Extraction, Repackaged
“You can’t regulate for trust by dismantling the brakes.”
In the wake of the Mansion House reforms, a familiar story is unfolding. The government’s so-called growth agenda is, in truth, a revival of the old Piscean order—an extractive financial system masquerading as economic progress. It’s not about real innovation or public prosperity. It’s asset hoovering, pure and simple: emptying the pockets of the many to enrich the elite few.
Under the guise of promoting international competitiveness, the Treasury, FCA, and their City allies are ushering in the most significant rollback of post-financial crisis protections in a generation. And once again, the public is expected to foot the bill.
The AUM Model in New Clothes
At the heart of the system is a bloated Assets Under Management (AUM) model. Providers, platforms, regulators, and intermediaries all feed off it. It’s a parasitic chain where fees are skimmed at every level—regardless of performance or impact on the real economy. And now, the Financial Conduct Authority has joined the cheer squad.
In a recent Money Box interview, FCA’s Charlotte Clark claimed private markets and equities “will” outperform safer alternatives. A statement so categorically misleading that it flies in the face of decades of FCA guidance to regulated advisers: “Past performance is not indicative of future results.” So why the change in tone?
Because the FCA now wears two hats—regulator and promoter. And that’s a dangerous conflict of interest.
Growth for Whom?
A 2022 open letter signed by over 50 leading economists—including Nobel Laureates and former ministers—warned the government that inserting “competitiveness” into the regulator’s objectives is a recipe for disaster. Why?
- It incentivises excessive risk-taking—the same behaviour that caused the 2008 crash.
- It harms the real economy, by diverting talent and capital from productive sectors into financial speculation.
- It reduces long-term growth, as excessive financialisation crowds out real investment.
- And it launches a regulatory race to the bottom, as the UK tries to out-compete global rivals not on quality, but by cutting safety standards.
As Andrew Bailey warned, we’ve tried this before. “It didn’t end well. For anyone.”
A Cheerleader in a Lollipop Jacket
Imagine a lollipop man encouraging drivers to speed up as children cross the road. That’s how absurd it is to expect the FCA to both protect consumers and promote financial services growth. As Andy Agathangelou of the Transparency Task Force noted, this is a classic case of regulatory capture and wilful blindness, where cheerleading replaces scrutiny and truth is drowned in spin.
The new agenda does not promote growth in the real economy—it drives speculative flows into the secondary market. And as participants in last night’s TTF debate rightly argue, buying UK equities on the secondary market doesn’t fund UK businesses; it transfers cash between investors, often offshore. If the aim is national renewal, then where’s the policy for primary investment into real needs—infrastructure, R&D, sustainable livelihoods?
Deregulation as State Failure
We are witnessing not just deregulation, but the institutional failure of the state to regulate in the public interest. The FCA is no longer an independent watchdog—it’s a junior partner in a PR campaign to rebrand risk as opportunity.
The social cost is staggering:
- Mis-selling scandals, pension theft, and investment fraud
- A public trust deficit so deep that millions prefer to keep savings in cash
- A regulatory framework that has forgotten its original purpose: to protect
The Alternative: Empowerment, Not Extraction
Real growth doesn’t come from pumping up asset prices. It comes from empowering people. From investing in human capital—health, education, enterprise. From regenerative finance that supports communities, not quarterly bonuses.
That’s the path we promote at the Academy of Life Planning—where planning your life comes before planning your money. Where financial architecture aligns with human dignity, not market cycles.
Conclusion: Time to Challenge the Narrative
The growth agenda, as it stands, is not reform—it’s regression. The financial system doesn’t need another helping hand. It needs a firm hand.
Until we acknowledge that more finance is not always better finance, we will continue to mistake motion for progress—and risk repeating the very crises we claim to have learned from.
Let’s not fall for the old story in a new suit.
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