UK Darling: Must Resist Heavy-Handed Financial Regulation

Mon, Feb 4 2008, 19:31 GMT

http://www.djnewswires.com/eu


UK Darling: Must Resist Heavy-Handed Financial Regulation

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- The U.K. will resist any disproportionate reaction to the recent troubles in financial markets, Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said Monday.

The troubles at U.K. mortgage lender Northern Rock (NRK.LN) and elsewhere have "meant that the regulatory system has been under intense scrutiny over recent months here and throughout the world," Darling said in a speech to a banking group.

"To revert to more heavy-handed or mechanistic regulation, to put process before substance would not fulfill our objectives and would stifle innovation. So we will not let that happen," he added.

Darling said that despite the recent financial market turmoil, the U.K. economy remains "strong and stable."

He also said that the government's policies mean the U.K. has low debt and historically low interest rates.

"We are able to do what is right to support growth in these uncertain times," he said.

Source: Fxstreet.com