Mazars Regulatory Insights
Expert analysis on the latest regulatory insights in the UK.
PRA’s 2022 priorities for banks operating in UK
The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has distributed a Dear CEO letter to all international banks and deposit takers active in the UK. This letter is to ensure there is a continuous focus guided by the PRA’s supervision and highlight the PRA’s planned work for next year; and should be read in conjunction with the feedback from individual PSM letters.
FCA’s Business Plan 2022/23
On Friday 8 April 2022, the FCA released its 2022/23 Business Plan in line with its usual timings. The scene is set with Covid-19 continuing to provide uncertainty, rising costs (due to inflation, interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty) and the risk of serious financial problems for many people.
FS regulatory affairs newsletter - Q1 2022
Following on from our inaugural publication of the FS regulatory affairs newsletter in December last year, this second edition covers regulatory developments in the last three months.
PRA’s strong and simple regime
For many years, the PRA has been applying a proportional approach to both regulating and supervising smaller banks, but there is a marked difference as supervision has been more pronounced.
Priorities of the Payment Services Regulator
On 13 January 2022, the Payment Services Regulator (PSR) published its first formal strategy. The implementation of this five-year strategy will materially impact Payment Service Providers (PSPs) through increased focus on accessibility, protection, and competition.
Integrity of regulatory reporting
The end of 2021 saw the PRA deliver on its warning in the September 2021 ‘Dear CEO’ letter, that they would take a tough stance on banks and building societies that fail to meet expectations around reliable regulatory reporting.
Remuneration
All firms regulated by the PRA are required to identify Material Risk Takers, regardless of their size and must have adequate procedures and policies, including the risk assessments, allowing a proportionate identification of MRTs.
Updated reporting requirements for PRA firms
On 1 January 2022, the PRA’s Policy Statement PS22/21 'Implementation of Basel Standards' took effect.
FCA Consultation Paper CP21/36
On 7 December the FCA released CP21/36 - the highly anticipated second consultation which provides more detail on the FCA’s proposals for new standards of consumer protection and care in retail financial markets in the form of a ‘Consumer Duty’.
FCA’s Appointed Representative Regime
On 3 December 2021, the FCA published a consultation paper (CP21/34) on improving the Appointed Representatives (AR) regime.
FS regulatory affairs newsletter - Q4 2021
This inaugural edition covers the developments in the regulatory space over the past 12 months and highlights some of the main developments and areas of focus for the year ahead.
Regulated firms: a matter of life and death
As the PRA transitions from a rule-taker to a rule-maker, small and medium-sized banks operating in the UK can expect to benefit from a more streamlined regulatory regime that could be easier to interpret, implement and maintain. At the same time, they can also expect the PRA to be progressively more involved in scrutinising their plans for an orderly wind-down. In this article, we explore...
FCA confirms approach for pre-paid funeral plans
Pre-paid funeral plans can be large financial purchases that affect vulnerable customers and can be difficult for customers to understand.
Mazars’ regulatory radar – Q2 2021
In our summer edition of Mazars’ regulatory radar, we cover the key regulatory developments from Q2 2021.
FCA’s Business Plan 2021/22
On 16 July the FCA released its business plan for 2021/22 and what has been published is a more ‘innovative, assertive and adaptive’ approach than we’ve seen previously.
FCA proposes enhanced climate-related disclosures
The UK is getting ready to co-host the private finance agenda of the COP26 and key goals include improving quantity and quality of climate-related financial disclosures. Following that approach, the FCA is working on establishing pathways to mandatory disclosure and promoting alignment of disclosure around the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework.
FCA calls on retail banks to address weaknesses
The FCA has called UK retail banks to action over continued weaknesses observed in anti-money laundering frameworks. Is it time to modernise your approach?
CP21/13 – A new Consumer Duty
In May 2021 the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a consultation paper CP21/13 outlining proposed new standards of consumer protection and care in retail financial markets in the form of a ‘Consumer Duty’.
Mazars’ regulatory radar – Q1 2021
In our spring edition of Mazars’ regulatory radar, we cover the key regulatory developments from Q1 2021.
IFPR – The second consultation paper from the FCA
The FCAs second consultation paper(CP21/7) on proposed rules to introduce the Investment Firm Prudential Regime (IFPR) was released on 19 April 2021.
Regulatory Outlook 2021
Welcome to Mazars’ Regulatory Outlook for 2021. In this publication, we aim to provide a snapshot of some of the key regulatory developments for the banking sector and provide some thoughts from our Mazars experts on what banks should think about as they prepare for another busy year on the Compliance and Risk fronts.
IFPR – The first consultation paper
In December 2020, the FCA detailed some of their proposals for the Investment Firm Prudential Regime (IFPR), which will come into effect in January 2022.
Risk and Regulatory Data - Impact of Covid-19
With the current Covid-19 pandemic and its widespread effects, banks must rely more than ever on data driven insights to monitor their changing risk profile, support quick decision making and respond to impacts on their customers and operating models.
FCA regulation of pre-paid funeral plans
After several high-profile publications and investigations[1], the Government decided that funeral plans should be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) by the summer of 2022.
Disclosures about IFRS 9 ECL accounting
On 16 February 2021, the PRA published a letter it had sent to CFOs requesting an update on their progress towards implementing the recommendations of the Taskforce on Disclosures about Expected Credit Losses, formalised in the DECL Report.
PRA’s introduction of simplified obligations
Since 7 December 2020, firms either have been, or will be notified by their PRA supervisor that they meet the eligibility criteria for simplified obligations for recovery planning (Simplified Obligations). These obligations are set out in the updated supervisory statement SS9/17 – Recovery Planning.
PRA’s amended filing deadline
On 5 February 2021, the PRA provided guidance and confirmed flexibility on submitting this year's annual reports, accounts and other types of regulatory reporting.
2021 Stress testing: scenarios and variables
On 20 January 2021, the Bank of England (BoE) published the details of their 2021 solvency stress test aimed to assess the major UK banks and building societies against a UK and global scenario that reflects a severe path for the current macroeconomic outlook.
PRA’s approach to supervision of new banks
Since 2013, the PRA has authorised 22 new UK banks. They continuously review the authorisation process to ensure it remains proportionate and fair, and to reduce barriers to entry and expansion. A revised approach to supervising new and growing non-systemic UK banks is expected to take effect in the first half of 2021, which is the outcome of consultation CP9/20.
Mazars’ Regulatory Radar – Q4 2020
In this edition of our Regulatory Radar, we cover the key regulatory developments of Q4 2020.
2021 Stress testing the UK banking system
In March 2020, for the first time since its inception in 2014, the Bank of England (BoE) cancelled its annual stress tests for the UK’s largest lenders. Instead, they undertook desktop analysis of the resilience of the UK banking sector. In late 2020, the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) judged that most banks, have capital buffers that allow them to operate and remain resilient to, a wide...
UK supervision of international banks post Brexit
Around one fifth of global banking activity is undertaken in the UK. Almost half of the banking assets in the UK are held by international banks and the PRA currently supervises approximately 250 international banks, both branches and subsidiaries, which are part of around 180 international groups.
Back to the future?
For financial services firms, a 2020 priority was preparing for a no-deal scenario while obtaining the appropriate licences to continue to service clients in the EU. This meant keeping up with the complexities of a regulatory regime in transition - with some EU rules continuing to apply during the transition period and uncertainty on whether the UK would continue to align with EU requirements...
The FCA is replacing Gabriel with RegData
In October 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) started replacing Gabriel regulatory reporting system with RegData, with the first group of firms transitioning from mid-October.
Key upcoming prudential reforms
After the publication of the FCA Regulatory Initiative Grid of September 2020, the industry raised concerns about the general volume of regulatory reforms scheduled for 2021. What are these reforms? What should firms be compliant with between now and the end of 2021? Which regulatory points should firms start planning for in 2021? We are going to tackle these three key questions over a series...
Prudential regime banks building societies UK
There is currently a proportionality problem for small firms as they, just like larger ones, incur significant costs for understanding, interpreting and operationalising prudential requirements.
New prudential regime for UK investment firms
Over summer 2020, the UK Government and Regulators shared their views on the European Union’s new Investment Firm Prudential Regime for MiFID investment firms. More importantly, it gave indications of what could happen in the UK.
FCA Banking Business Plan 2019/2020
The cross-sector priorities for the FCA have been subject to little change in the past few years: read our review of the 2019/2020 Business Plan to see if this is set to change