Osborne dragging his feet on financial regulation reform

Progress, at last: the government has found someone to run the Consumer Protection and Markets Authority, the less juicy part of the to-be-dismembered Financial Services Authority. What's more, Martin Wheatley looks a sound appointment – he has warmed up with a regulatory stint in Hong Kong and used to be a senior honcho at the London Stock Exchange. So how is the rest of the government's reform agenda proceeding? In short, it is moving at snail's pace . The first visible piece of chancellor George Osborne's handiwork was meant to be the financial policy committee (FPC) – that's the body within the Bank of England that will spot risks developing in the financial system. The creature is proving elusive, despite a promised sighting last autumn. The Treasury select committee has noticed the delays and fears the government will try to move with undue haste in an attempt to catch up with the original timetable. It's a reasonable worry given that, on current legislative timetable, it is hard to see how the FSA could be abolished on time next year. In theory, timing doesn't matter terribly as long as the eventual regulatory structure is clean and well understood by all. In practice, the FSA still has a day-to-day job to do. Uncertainty breeds discontent in the ranks and makes hiring new recruits harder. The government isn't making life easy.