Blue-chip investors push for Treasury rethink The investors, including Legal & General, Axa Fidelity International and the Association of British Insurers, all want the new regulatory framework -particularly the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which will take on much of the work of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) - to consider the UK's competitiveness when making regulatory decisions. But the final version of the bill, which gets its second reading before the House of Commons tomorrow, does not include the wording, with the Government apparently keen to separate regulation from competition amid fears of being accused of sanctioning the type of "light touch" regulation which contributed to the 2008 banking crisis. At the nub of the investors" argument is the fact that under the terms of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the UK Listing Authority, part of the FSA, currently must have regard for "the international character of capital markets and the desirability of maintaining the competitive position of the United Kingdom." However, under the Financial Services Bill, the need for the FCA to consider this has been lost. Part of the argument pitched by investors, supported by other organisations including the British Bankers" Association, the CBI and the London Stock Exchange, is that financial regulators from countries as varied as China and Switzerland have such clauses included in their legislative mandates. In addition, the fact that the UK, which accounts for 60pc to 80pc of securities trading in Europe, has only 8pc of the vote at the European Securities and Markets Authority has been noted by some investors as one of the reasons the FCA will need to be fully empowered to fight the UK's corner.