Collective redress: the shape of things to come

On 8 April 2010, the Financial Services Bill, outlining the Government’s much-debated proposals in response to the financial crisis, gained Royal Assent. However, the Act differs significantly in one important area from the original Bill put forward by the Chancellor, notwithstanding his comments in a Treasury press release at the time that the Bill was ‘central to the Government’s reform agenda that seeks to empower consumers’. The Bill grabbed headlines for its provisions relating to the banking crisis and bankers’ bonuses, but as the Chancellor highlighted, ways to improve consumer pr...