UK watchdogs cowed, secretive: report

London

TWO British watchdogs set up to apply lessons from the financial crisis will sleepwalk into the next banking meltdown if they don't make big changes, a report said on Tuesday.

Annual spending on financial regulation has tripled to £1.2 billion (S$2 billion) since taxpayers had to bail out a string of UK lenders in the 2008 banking crisis.