The chancellor has told the House of Commons Treasury Committee that while the Financial Conduct Authority's bungled pre-briefing of its annuities review had been "an egregious error", he had absolute confidence in the regulator's leadership. George Osborne denied suggestions by a member of the committee, Pat McFadden, that in publicly "clipping the FCA's wings" in a letter to its chairman, John Griffith-Jones, he had either undermined the regulator's authority as it carried out other investigations, including into allegations of foreign exchange rigging, or given comfort to industry lobbyists. "Although I've had a concern about the clear issue of the FCA over the last few days, let me be clear, I have confidence in the FCA as an institution that is able to help consumers, and protect consumers," Osborne told the MPs. "And the fact that they were on to this poor value for money in the annuities market, I think, was a sign of that." In its recent Budget the government put forward plans
↧