“They imposed a very large number of regulations on the financial services industry, more than it had seen in centuries.”

UK authorities were indeed in the middle of a major post-crisis overhaul of financial regulation: HM Treasury said it was committed to a “fundamental overhaul” and to creating the FPC, PRA and FCA, and the IMF said the crisis exposed major fault lines in the U.K. regulatory framework. The FSA handbook was also being amended repeatedly in 2011 through multiple instruments. (gov.uk) But as of 2 December 2011 the biggest changes were still being consulted on or legislated for, and the Financial Services Act did not come into force until 1 April 2013, so saying the regulations had already been “imposed” overstates the timing. And because British financial markets date back to the 17th and 18th centuries, the claim that this was regulation “more than it had seen in centuries” reads as rhetorical hyperbole rather than a publicly measurable fact. (gov.uk) Sources: GOV.UK “2010 to 2015 government policy: financial services regulation”; HM Treasury “A new approach to financial regulation: judgement, focus and stability”; IMF “United Kingdom: Financial System Stability Assessment”; HMRC internal manual “Financial markets: background: history”.