Britain aspires to a second Big Bang in financial services such as the one famously unleashed by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. But the point of a Big Bang is that it happens only once.

Earlier this month, chancellor Jeremy Hunt unveiled the so-called Edinburgh Reforms, an ambitious loosening of financial regulations aimed at restoring some of the international competitiveness lost by the UK in recent years. This includes easing the ring-fencing separating retail and investment banking, scrapping the cap on bankers’ bonuses, overhauling the regime that makes senior managers responsible for infractions and repealing aspects of European Union rules. Officials also want to lower taxes on asset managers and make it easier to raise capital in the UK.