The working group’s mandate was to produce an intellectually honest case for less (and less intrusive) regulation, for lighter-touch regulation (though the regulator hates the phrase) and for more reliance on industry initiatives and the market itself. Members of the group were deliberately invited to represent a range of interests. They included senior figures from the wholesale and retail sides, from consumer groups, from the regulatory community, from Westminster and from academia and the press. Not everyone participated in every meeting, and not everyone in the group will subscribe to every recommendation in the report – which is why we have included articles in which dissenters explain their views.