Britain to cut funds approval times to take on Dublin, Luxembourg
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will cut the time it takes to authorise investment funds to help compete with rival financial centres in Ireland and Luxembourg, Clive Adamson, director of supervision at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), said on Wednesday.
Mindful of the tax revenues Europe's biggest financial sector generates, regulators have softened their tone over the past few weeks.
Bank of England governor Mark Carney struck a gentler note on banks than predecessor Mervyn King last Thursday, saying his approach was that the City of London was "open for business".
From April the approval period in Britain for European Union regulated mutual funds, known as UCITS, will be cut from to two months from six, with a further cut of a month in 2015, Adamson said. The FCA also aims to indicate its decision on UCITS within six weeks for 90 percent of applications, he said.
Non-UCITS, such as unit trusts, approval times will be cut to three from six next April, and by a further month in 2015.
"They (Ireland and Luxembourg) have been faster than our current system. We don't want the UK to be disadvantaged in terms of approval times. I'm trying to make London more attractive," he told reporters.
"We are not lowering our standards, we are just applying more resources," Adamson said.
(Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Louise Ireland)
