U.K. Dumps `Guilty Until Proven Innocent' Rule for Bankers
- New bill expands oversight within financial industry
- Treasury says it's crucial to restore trust in banks
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The U.K. government backtracked on a plan to assume senior managers of banks are guilty until proven innocent, substituting it with a “duty of responsibility” that will extend across the entire financial services industry.
Executives at U.K. insurers, mortgage brokers and payday-loan companies will be covered by the same requirements as those at banks under the Bank of England and Financial Services Bill introduced in Parliament Thursday, that will widen the scope of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime to cover the whole industry. The measure replaces the “reverse burden of proof” that would have forced senior executives to prove they were unaware of wrongdoing at their firms.