Bank of England cautions against relaxing financial regulations

A top policymaker at the Bank of England has cautioned against relaxing financial regulations, saying that such a move could lead to a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis.

Sir Jon Cunliffe, deputy governor of the Bank of England for financial stability, told the BBC that the changes to regulation introduced following the financial crisis had made the global financial sector more resilient to shocks.

The remarks come days after US President Donald Trump ordered a review of the Dodd-Frank Act, which was signed into federal law by President Barack Obama in 2010 to prevent another financial crisis from happening.

"We've made very substantial progress since the financial crisis, increasing the resilience of the financial sector and increasing its ability to support the economy in times of stress both nationally and in Europe and globally, including the US," Cunliffe said.

"Those changes were necessary. None of us want to see again the sorts of events we saw between 2007 and 2009 and the costs of those events are still very clear.

"In order to have a resilient financial sector and consistent regulation internationally we need international standards, we need the reforms we have had and it is important we preserve them."

Trump signed an executive order on 3 February directing a review of the Dodd-Frank Act, saying that the regulations were squeezing lending and hurting the US economy.

"We expect to be cutting a lot out of Dodd-Frank, because frankly I have so many people, friends of mine, that have nice businesses and they can't borrow money," the president was quoted as saying by the Guardian last week.

"They just can't get any money because the banks just won't let them borrow because of the rules and regulations in Dodd-Frank. So we'll be talking about that in terms of the banking industry."

White House press secretary Sean Spicer later added that the Dodd-Frank Act was a "disastrous policy" that was "crippling" the American economy.