The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Investment Fraud and Fairer Financial Services has published a 250-page report concluding that the UK’s system of financial conduct regulation is in “urgent need of fundamental structural reform”.

The report argues that financial scandals over the past two decades have followed a persistent pattern: early warning signs are ignored, regulatory interventions are delayed, consumers suffer losses, and only limited reforms follow.

According to the group’s authors, this recurring cycle points to deep systemic flaws within the regulatory framework – flaws they believe the government risks making worse through its “deregulation for growth” agenda.

The MPs are calling for a Royal Commission to review the regulatory architecture, examine how responsibilities ought to be shared between parliament, regulators, ombudsmen and the courts, and to put forward proposals for meaningful reform.

John McDonnell, Labour MP, former Shadow Chancellor and group chair, argues that successive scandals have been wrongly treated as isolated incidents rather than symptoms of structural failure. He is calling for a root-and-branch review of financial regulation, whether through a Royal Commission or a similarly empowered body.