UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves used her annual Mansion House address to unveil the so-called “Leeds Reforms”, billed as the most sweeping overhaul of financial-services regulation in more than a decade. Describing some rules as a “boot on the neck” of business, she pledged to loosen the post-crisis ring-fence that separates retail and investment banking, streamline the Senior Managers and Certification Regime and accelerate authorisations for new market entrants. The Treasury also welcomed Bank of England moves to delay part of the Basel capital framework and cut requirements for mid-sized lenders. The growth push puts housing at its centre. After the Bank of England lifted restrictions on higher loan-to-income lending, banks can now issue mortgages exceeding 4.5 times a borrower’s salary. Minimum earnings for access fall to £30,000 for individuals and £50,000 for couples, and the government will make its mortgage-guarantee scheme permanent. The Treasury estimates the changes could generate 36,000 additional first-time-buyer loans in the first year, with Nationwide alone expecting to extend 10,000 of them through its expanded Helping Hand product. For savers, Reeves confirmed that from April 2026 banks may contact customers with money sitting in low-interest accounts about potential investments, part of a drive to deepen retail participation in capital markets. Long-term asset funds will be allowed into stocks-and-shares Individual Savings Accounts next year, and the Chancellor said broader ISA reforms remain under review after shelving a mooted cut to the current £20,000 annual allowance. The package is intended to revive a stalling economy—GDP slipped 0.1% in the second quarter—and to help Labour meet its pledge to make the UK the fastest-growing G-7 member. Industry groups largely welcomed the deregulatory tilt, but consumer advocates and some economists warned that easing safeguards on lending and supervision risks repeating the excesses that preceded the 2008 financial crisis.