We cannot have a system where the private sector enjoys the profits of excessive risk-taking while leaving the public sector on the hook for the losses. The post-crisis reforms  The ways in which firms organise themselves, and the tools by which we apply our supervisory judgements, are shaped by global regulatory standards. And in those standards, there has been a revolution. Responding to the emergency of the 2008 crisis, governments set the direction of travel and parameters for regulators to act. We took our mandates, assessed the system accordingly, and set in train a series of unprecedented changes to deliver financial stability. Key to this effort was more effective co-ordination between national regulators and co-operation through international bodies. For banks, this was the right response to the financial crisis, which showed that the standards we had been using were woefully inadequate. The toolkit we have today is miles ahead of what the authorities had as queues grew outside Northern Rock branches – for example the UK has led the way in developing a resolution regime so that we can intervene to manage the orderly failure of a firm. At the same time, UK banks have increased their equity capital by approximately £ since the end of 2008 and now hold more than £ of high-quality liquid assets, four times the level they held before the financial crisis. Governments, regulators and firms together have transformed the banking system.
The revolution is over. Long live the revolution! Speech given by Sam Woods, Deputy Governor, Prudential Regulation and Chief Executive Officer, Prudential Regulation Authority  At the City Banquet, Mansion House, London 26 October 2016  I am grateful to Alex Holmes, Chris Faint, Kayleigh Guinan, Richard Newman and the PRA Executive Directors for their assistance in preparing this speech. 1  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/speeches/default.aspx  My Lord Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen  Let me begin by saying that it is a great privilege to be here tonight, and a great honour to lead the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) within the Bank of England. Tonight I am going to start with a word you don’t usually hear from a regulator. My theme is revolution. Not a political revolution, but a prudential revolution, a revolution that has occupied your minds – and our speeches – since 2008. Before I come onto that, Lord Mayor, I must point out that you have allowed a renowned and formidable revolutionary into our midst right here in Mansion House tonight. What’s more, he is the Chief Executive of the Financial Conduct Authority. Now, it is true that Andrew Bailey doesn’t immediately make one think of Che Guevara. But Andrew has been right at the forefront of the revolution in prudential regulation we have had here in the UK over the last 8 years. Nobody has done more to rescue, repair and reform the UK financial system.