Jeremy Hunt will vow to revive City by slashing red tape

• Chancellor will deliver his annual Mansion House address in the City of London

Jeremy Hunt will vow to slash red tape and encourage pension funds to invest in British businesses in a major speech tonight.

The Chancellor, in his annual Mansion House address in the City of London, is expected to promise to axe nearly 100 pieces of ‘unnecessary, outdated and protectionist’ EU legislation.

He is also set to outline ‘evolutionary not revolutionary’ reforms to get pension funds making billions of pounds of riskier investments in fast-growing firms to boost economic growth. 

Mr Hunt’s proposals are due to be dubbed the ‘Mansion House reforms’ and will come as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak looks to revive the UK economy in order to fulfil one of his five key pledges.

The Chancellor’s proposals seek to encourage the financial sector to ‘unlock capital’ and increase returns for pensioners.

‘I want to lay out plans to enable our financial services sector to increase returns for pensioners, improve outcomes for investors and unlock capital for our growth businesses,’ he is expected to say. 

Alongside regulatory reforms, Mr Hunt will welcome an agreement with leading pensions firms to put 5 per cent of their investments, a sum of up to £50 billion, into high-growth businesses.

Aviva, Legal & General and Phoenix Group are among those understood to be taking part.

Pensions firms welcomed that Mr Hunt was not making the move mandatory, as the industry had been warning against.

The Chancellor will pledge that changes will put the needs of pension savers ‘first and foremost’.

‘It will be an evolutionary not revolutionary change to our pensions market,’ he is expected to say.

Mr Hunt will also promise to prioritise a ‘strong and diversified’ gilt market, meaning he was not forcing firms to favour riskier investments over the low-risk ones offered by the Government.

He will also set out a ‘golden rule’ of never making changes that ‘compromise’ the sector.

The Telegraph reported that Mr Hunt will also vow to scrap laws inherited from the EU which require companies to produce ‘excessive’ transparency documents.

A Treasury source told the newspaper the Chancellor’s speech will focus on ‘scrapping outdated EU regulations, abolishing protectionist rules… and repealing almost 100 pieces of unnecessary retained EU law’.

Ahead of Mr Hunt’s speech,   Nigel Peaple, the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association’s policy director, said: ‘The Chancellor has confirmed today that the pensions sector will keep their freedom to invest in the interest of the individuals whose savings they manage.

‘This is the key priority for the pensions sector and we welcome that Mr Hunt has listened to our views on this important matter.

‘After the gilt market turmoil of last September, it is reassuring that the Government is committed to a strong and diverse gilt market and that, in consequence, it is seeking evolution not revolution with regard to pensions.

‘We look forward to continuing our dialogue with the Government on their proposed pensions reforms, seeking always to achieve outcomes that mean a ‘win, win, win’ for savers, pension schemes and the UK.’

Michael Moore, chief executive of the British Venture Capital Association, said: ‘We welcome the Chancellor’s recognition of what we have known to be true for a long time, that British pension savers are losing out.’