LONDON - Britain's Labour Party plans to remove barriers to pension funds investing in UK companies if it wins the next election, joining efforts to bolster Britain's post-Brexit global clout in the financial sector.

The party is leading in the polls to win an election expected in 2024 and its finance spokesperson Rachel Reeves said a Labour government would start a "culture shift" with a framework to allow insurers and pension funds to invest alongside the British Business Bank, a state-owned business development bank.

Reeves said this would be the first step to end what she called the "global investment malaise" that has gripped Britain.

"We used to be competitive. Labour will make sure we can be again," she said in a statement late on Monday ahead of a visit to the United States.

Current barriers include too few mergers of pension schemes to reach the scale needed to invest in riskier assets.

Separately, Reeves told the Financial Times she would be prepared to force pension funds to invest in a proposed 50 billion pound ($63.1 billion) startups fund, adding that she did not believe such a step would be needed.

Nigel Peaple, director of policy at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, said it does not make sense to mandate contributions because it breaches the principle that pension funds are there for savers and their interests.

Britain's Conservative government is due, perhaps as soon as July, to set out how cash from pension funds could be channelled into UK investments to boost growth.

A decision by UK chip designer ARM to list in New York rather than London has prompted senior industry officials to study how London can remain globally competitive.

Reeves' comments are the latest sign of how a Labour government would continue with financial reforms that are already under way.

"The UK's capital market is in urgent need of reform; we welcome these pro-business steps the Labour party have outlined," said Chris Hayward, City of London policy chair.

Conor Lawlor, managing director for capital markets at banking industry body UK Finance, echoed the sentiment.

"We recently published a report with a series of recommendations to enhance the UK’s capital markets and so we therefore welcome the Labour Party outlining their ideas in this area," he said. ($1 = 0.7923 pounds)

(Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by David Goodman)