Red tape for small banks to be reduced as regulator looks to boost sector’s competitiveness
The banking regulator has announced plans to reduce restrictions on small banks, saying it would take its new competitiveness mandate seriously.
Announcing the regulations, Vicky Saporta, executive director at the Bank of England, said: “the importance of competition means that we need to act when rules that are proportionate for large firms are not proportionate for small ones. Doing so removes barriers to entry.”
The rules, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) said, would aim to mitigate the ‘complexity problem’. This is when small banks face higher costs than large banks interpreting and implementing financial regulations.
The proposals include simplifying disclosure and liquidity rules for small banks. They form part of the PRA’s ‘strong and stable’ framework, which aims to simplify regulation for non-systematic domestic banks.
A second consultation paper with proposals for simplifying payment rules for small banks was also published today.
These proposals aim to “increase proportionality” of the pay regime by reducing the regulatory burden on small firms. Proposals include removing requirements to apply rules on malus, clawback, and buyouts for eligible firms.
Malus provisions allow a company to reduce or cancel an executive’s bonus before it has been paid out while clawback provisions allow the company to recover a bonus after it has been paid out.
“These proposals show how we can use our rule making powers in ways that are good for competitiveness and growth,” Saporta said.
Saporta said the proposals announced today “could not have (been) made whilst we were in the EU”.
Under the Financial Services and Markets Bill currently going through Parliament, the PRA will be required to consider competitiveness alongside its primary objective to maintain financial stability.
While some industry figures have been sceptical that the PRA will actually embrace the objective, Saporta said the new objective “will make a big difference” saying “we take the new objective seriously. We will make rules differently as a result.”