Financial committee plans shelved
The Government has been forced to shelve plans to establish a statutory high-powered committee which would seek to improve financial stability.
The proposals were part of the Financial Services Bill which was sent for Royal Assent after being passed in the Commons.
MPs accepted changes made in the Lords and approved the Bill without a vote.
Clauses were also withdrawn which would have seen financial firms face so-called "class actions" from consumers who united against them.
Economic Secretary Ian Pearson said the Government still believed "very strongly" that a Council for Financial Stability (CFS) - which would have brought together the Bank of England, Treasury and Financial Services Authority, and is already operating in shadow form - was still "an important and necessary addition to financial regulation in this country".
But shadow Treasury minister Mark Hoban described the CFS as a "cosmetic" reform and said scrapping it would allow for a "fresh start" after the election.