Chancellor announces 'widest set of reforms' to investment and banking in 'more than a decade'
Her speech focused mainly on financial sector reforms, a package she trailed earlier on Tuesday whilst on a visit to Leeds, the city lending its name to these changes.
The chancellor told business leaders her "Leeds reforms" represented the "most wide-ranging package of reforms to financial services regulation in more than a decade."
Reeves said she wanted "financial services at the heart of the government's growth mission, recognising that Britain cannot succeed and meet its growth ambition without a financial services sector that is fighting fit and thriving."
As part of these reforms, the chancellor vowed to review many of the systems put in place following the 2008 financial crisis, loosening these restrictions to encourage growth. These include:
A government-backed mortgage guarantee scheme to encourage lenders to take more risk.
A push to get savers into stocks, shifting money from savings accounts to equity markets. As it stands, just under one in five households directly hold shares. In the United States, the proportion is one in two.
A wing-clipping for the Financial Ombudsman Service, reined in after years of complaints from firms that it has acted like a 'quasi-regulator'.
A scaling back of the Senior Managers Regime (SMR) - the post-crisis framework that holds banking executives personally accountable for misconduct.
A review of the 'ring-fencing' regime, which separates banks' retail and investment activities.
The chancellor said the changes would have a "ripple effect across all sectors of our economy, putting pounds in the pockets of working people through better deals on their mortgages, better returns on their savings, more jobs paying good wages across our country."
The Treasury has promised the review will look at how any changes can strike the right balance between growth and stability, including protecting consumers' deposits.
The reforms to the financial sector come alongside a push to promote greater investment by individuals.
This includes rolling out 'targeted support' from April next year, where banks can alert customers with cash sitting in low-return current accounts about investment opportunities.
The Treasury claims at current rates, moving £2,000 from these accounts to stocks and shares investments could make millions of people over £9,000 better off in 20 years' time.
In a further push to increase the public's faith in stocks and shares, major banks and financial firms, including Barclays, Lloyds, Vanguard and Hargreaves Lansdown are backing a new advertising campaign highlighting the benefits of investing.
The government also said it will continue to consider reforms to ISAs and savings to strike the right balance between cash savings and investment.'We are fundamentally reforming the regulatory system, freeing up firms to take risks and to drive growth,' Ms Reeves told finance chiefs when setting out the reforms in Leeds.
The reforms build on changes that loosen mortgage lending rules for banks.
It means more mortgages will be available at more than 4.5 times a buyer's income, which is expected to open the door to thousands more loans for first-time buyers.
Reeves ended her speech, saying: "In too many areas, regulation still acts as a boot on the neck of businesses, choking off the enterprise and innovation that is the lifeblood of growth.
"Regulators in other sectors must take up the call I make this evening not to bend to the temptation of excessive caution but to boldly regulate for growth in the service of prosperity across our country."
Tuesday's speech is the chancellor's second Mansion House speech since taking office.
Last year, the chancellor announced plans to reform pension investment and tackle risk aversion in the financial sector.
The speech is an annual opportunity for the chancellor to address senior bankers and company bosses at the Annual Financial and Professional Services Dinner, held at the City of London's Lord Mayor's residence.
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