The PRA published Policy Statement PS6/25, outlining measures to strengthen the supervision of branches and subsidiaries of foreign banks, while supporting the UK’s competitiveness.

As part of PS7/25, the PRA has published further details on its approach for calculating SME and infrastructure lending adjustments.

Arriving hot on the heels of our earlier article on what the 2025 Bank Capital Test Means for small- and medium-sized banks, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has quietly published an accompanying set of stress parameters. These include both rates-up (supply shock) and rates-down (demand shock) scenarios, and can serve as a useful benchmark for firms not participating in concurrent stress testing. They may be particularly helpful for use in internal stress testing exercises, including within the Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process (ICAAP).

With the Bank of England’s 2025 Bank Capital Stress Test now in motion, small and medium-sized banks should take note. While only the large banks participate directly, it is nonetheless of interest for other firms as they approach their next stress testing exercise. The latest publications bring stress parameters up to date from the 2024 Desk-based Stress Test, and some elements have changed. This article explores what banks can take away from the latest stress programme and how to reflect those developments in their own risk management processes.

Following our recent webinar, our team has prepared responses to questions raised during the event. Click the download button to read the questions and answers.

On Demand Webinar: Strategies and best practices for small and medium-sized banks

Recorded on: Thursday, 27 March 2025

Today, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), in consultation with HM Treasury, announced a one-year delay to the implementation of Basel 3.1 in the UK. Originally scheduled to take effect on 1 January 2026 for banks not classified as Small Domestic Deposit Takers (SDDTs), the new implementation date is now set for 1 January 2027.

Mark Your Calendar: Key Dates for Basel 3.1 and SDDT. It has been approximately three months since the PRA released the second part of its near-final rules for implementing the Basel 3.1 standards in the UK. With the official implementation date of 1 January 2026 less than a year away, the clock is ticking for firms to ensure compliance. While the implementation date of 1 January 2026 is top of mind for many, it is essential not to overlook several key milestones in 2025. These will be particularly relevant both for firms seeking SDDT status and banks navigating Basel 3.1 requirements.

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) published Consultation Paper 8/24 ‘Definition of Capital: restatement of CRR requirements in PRA Rulebook’ (CP8/24) covering various matters relating to own funds including revocation by HM Treasury (HMT) of related rules set out in inter alia Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (the CRR) and transferring them, with certain modifications, into the PRA Rulebook.

On 12 September 2024, the PRA published Consultation Paper 7/24 (The Strong and Simple Framework: The simplified capital regime for Small Domestic Deposit Takers (SDDTs)) as part of its Phase 2 of announcements, which sets out the proposed simplified capital regime for SDDTs.

This article outlines the changes to exposures to MDBs under the standardised approach of credit risk, as part of UK’s implementation of Basel 3.1 (PS9/24).

On 12 September 2024, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) published the second part of its near-final rules on the implementation of Basel 3.1 standards through Policy Statement 9/24 (PS9/24). This article focuses on the key changes in comparison to the PRA’s earlier consultation paper(s), in each of the major risk areas.

In December 2023, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) published a Consultative Document on the recalibration of shocks for the measurement of IRRBB. Following the consultation period, on 16 July 2024, the BCBS published the final Recalibration of Shocks in the Interest Rate Risk in the Banking Book Standard.

On 27th June 2024, the Prudential Regulation Authority (“PRA”) published the ICAAP Scenarios for non-systemic UK banks, which are the supply shock scenario and the demand shock scenario. This article summarises the key factors of the scenarios and provides specific points on how small- and medium-sized banks should approach there stress testing design processes, with relation to the 2024 ICAAP Scenarios.

On April 23, 2024, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) published the outcomes of a thematic review of banks' risk management practices related to private equity (PE) financing activities. This article summarises the key areas of improvement and provides specific action points that small- and medium-sized banks may consider as part of their risk management practices.

On the 15th May 2024, The Prudential Regulation Authority (“PRA”) published the outcomes of a thematic review it conducted on the recovery planning capabilities in a Dear CEO letter. This article summarises the key areas of Improvements and provides specific action points that small- and medium-sized banks may consider as part of the recovery planning process.

We recently sponsored a webinar - hosted by UK Finance - focussing on the key requirements of which banks must take account with respect to their current or planned relationships with deposit aggregators. Download a copy of the slides here.

PRA in the supervisory statement SS2/24 outlines requirements around solvent exit planning and execution. This article summarises the requirements and provides specific action points that small- and medium-sized banks can consider to implement these requirements.

In this webinar, we will provide an overview of the key requirements banks must take account of with respect to their current or planned future relationships with deposit aggregators. Specifically, this will include: Prudential risk: liquidity risk management and liquidity stress testing implications; Liquidity regulatory reporting: implications for calculation and treatment of deposits; and, Depositor protection (Financial Services Compensation Scheme coverage), and third party and outsourcing risk.

NMD are liabilities whereby the depositor is free to withdraw their deposit at any time since there is no defined contractual maturity date. Similarly, banks are typically able to adjust the interest rate attached to NMD on a unilateral basis. Despite the contractually short-term nature (using a repricing basis) of NMD, certain NMD or portions thereof may behave like longer-term, interest rate-insensitive positions. The inherent characteristics of NMD create complexities from the perspective of measuring, and in turn managing, IRRBB, meaning that a more involved approach is necessary.