Central bank has been rowing back on rules introduced after financial crisis, saying some appear to have been ‘overcooked’

The Bank of England plans to slash the “reporting burden” on UK banks and allow insurers to make riskier investments without initial approval, as it comes under government pressure to ease regulations introduced after the financial crisis.

Sam Woods, a deputy governor at the Bank who leads its regulatory arm, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), said the central bank has been rowing back on rules that appeared to be “overcooked”, suggesting they may have gone too far and harmed the financial sector.