HM Treasury has published the minutes of the Economic Secretary to the Treasury’s six-monthly performance review meetings with the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), reflecting the government’s commitment in the Chancellor’s Regulation Action Plan to formalise sponsor-department performance reviews of regulators. The records summarise discussions with PRA Chief Executive Sam Woods on 17 July 2025 and 20 January 2026 on performance against the PRA’s statutory objectives and its contribution to the government’s economic policy. Across the two meetings, the agenda covered delivery of the PRA’s secondary international competitiveness and growth objective alongside financial stability, progress on major reform programmes, and burden reduction. Topics included implementation of Basel 3.1 (including adjustments cited as supporting SME, infrastructure and trade finance), remuneration reforms, reductions in insurer reporting requirements and planned further reporting reductions for banks, Solvency UK changes including matching adjustment developments and a proposed Matching Adjustment Investment Accelerator, and proposed reforms to the Senior Managers & Certification Regime. The discussions also covered a planned joint review of the ring-fencing regime with HM Treasury, the Bank of England Financial Policy Committee’s work on the assessment of bank capital requirements including stakeholder interest in leverage ratio requirements and buffer usability, and the government’s target to reduce administrative costs of regulation for businesses by 25% by the end of the Parliament, with the PRA citing improved approval timelines including a reduction in the median time for senior manager approvals from 59 days to 30 days. The minutes also note work with the Financial Conduct Authority on a Scale-Up Unit (launched and later described as operational), follow-up work after the Mutuals Landscape Report including removing certain building society requirements via the Strong and Simple framework, examining barriers to credit unions establishing credit union service organisations, and exploring ways to simplify mergers between mutual insurers, as well as discussion of regulatory approaches to artificial intelligence including potential use of sandboxes. The January 2026 record notes that the PRA was developing the next iteration of its annual business plan with no major shifts in overall strategic direction planned, and that the Bank of England would consider feedback from firms as it assessed next steps on capital requirements.
HM Treasury 2026-04-28
HM Treasury publishes minutes of six-monthly performance review meetings with the Prudential Regulation Authority
HM Treasury has published minutes of the Economic Secretary’s six‑monthly performance review meetings with the Prudential Regulation Authority, covering the PRA’s performance against its statutory objectives and contribution to government economic policy. Topics include implementation of Basel 3.1, Solvency UK and remuneration reforms, reporting burden reductions, proposed changes to the Senior Managers & Certification Regime and ring‑fencing, work on mutuals and a Scale-Up Unit, regulatory approaches to artificial intelligence, and efforts to cut regulatory administrative costs. The January 2026 minutes note that the PRA’s forthcoming business plan will maintain its strategic direction while the Bank of England considers feedback on capital requirements.