HM Treasury has published a consultation proposing to repeal the UK’s existing Benchmarks Regulation and replace it with the Specified Authorised Benchmarks Regime (SABR). The proposal would move the UK from regulating all benchmarks produced in the jurisdiction to regulating only those benchmarks or benchmark administrators designated by HM Treasury as systemically important, based on advice from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and would remove the requirement for authorised firms to use only benchmarks on FCA registers. Under SABR, designation would be based on qualitative criteria focused on benchmarks with no or few substitutes (or where switching is not practicable) and where cessation without “sufficient notice”, unrepresentativeness, or unreliable data could have significant adverse impacts on UK financial system integrity and consumers, or on the market the benchmark measures (including connected markets). HM Treasury would also be able to designate administrators at entity level where the aggregate impact of their benchmarks could be systemic; the current “critical” and “significant” categories and usage thresholds would not be retained, and exempt benchmarks such as those administered by central banks would remain out of scope. The consultation estimates the number of domestic administrators in scope could fall by up to 80 to 90 per cent, and proposes delegating detailed firm-facing requirements for designated administrators to the FCA, while maintaining obligations for authorised contributors to designated benchmarks but removing requirements for non-authorised contributors. On cross-border access, the consultation proposes an Overseas Recognition Regime to replace the existing equivalence route for overseas benchmarks and seeks views on whether current recognition and endorsement routes remain necessary alongside the FCA’s approach to international firms. It also consults on implications for ESG benchmarks (including whether to retain Paris-Aligned and Climate Transition labels and removing the legislative requirement to endeavour to provide them), commodity benchmark requirements, and adapting the FCA’s intervention and wind-down toolkit for designated benchmarks, including powers to restrict benchmark use by authorised firms. The consultation is open for 12 weeks and closes on 11 March 2026.
HM Treasury 2025-12-01
HM Treasury launches consultation on replacing the UK Benchmarks Regulation with a targeted Specified Authorised Benchmarks Regime
HM Treasury proposes repealing the UK's Benchmarks Regulation, replacing it with the Specified Authorised Benchmarks Regime (SABR) to focus on systemically important benchmarks. The consultation suggests reducing domestic administrators in scope by up to 90% and delegating detailed requirements to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). It also proposes an Overseas Recognition Regime for cross-border access and seeks feedback on ESG benchmarks and commodity benchmark requirements.