The online safety bill, which had reached its final stages through Parliament, has been put on hold until after the summer recess, with some commentators suggesting it could be scrapped or changed significantly.
Yesterday (July 13), reports that the bill had been dropped from the debate agenda were met with disappointment by senior financial services professionals.
The bill was due to go through its second day report stage next week, however it has been rescheduled until after the summer recess due to timetabling issues.
Tim Fassam, the outgoing head of policy at adviser trade body Pimfa, said: "It is disappointing, but we are hopeful there is enough of a consensus on the investment fraud elements that those will survive, albeit potentially in a different/changed bill."
Pimfa had led a campaign to include financial fraud within the online safety bill; in January 2021 Steve Timms MP, chairperson of the work and pensions committee, had first told FTAdviser that he was considering bringing an amendment to include financial fraud within the bill.
The government subsequently made provisions to bring online financial fraud within the scope of the bill.
But as the leadership candidates in the race to become the next prime minister have raised concerns about some of the more contentious elements of the bill, the worry is that it could be scrapped completely.
Indeed, some groups, such as the Institute of Economic Affairs, have called for the "highly contentious legislation" to be "abandoned."
Victoria Hewson, head of regulatory affairs at the IEA, said: "The delay provides an ideal opportunity to reconsider this highly contentious legislation.
“The bill not only raises serious free speech issues but has also become complex and unmanageable. The latest amendments have made this situation even worse.
“The bill should either be abandoned entirely or stripped back to what is absolutely necessary to protect the safety of the most vulnerable."
However, Fassam expressed a hope it would still be implemented in some form in the autumn.
He added: "When consumer groups, regulators and industry all agree you’d hope that would be enough to spark action."
simoney.kyriakou@ft.com, additional reporting by sally.hickey@ft.com
