The financial crisis demonstrated the need for a new approach to financial regulation and major changes to the Bank came into force on 1 April 2013.  The Financial Services Act 2012 established an independent Financial Policy Committee (FPC), a new prudential regulator as a subsidiary of the Bank, and created new responsibilities for the supervision of financial market infrastructure. 

 

 

The PRA is responsible for the supervision of banks, building societies and credit unions, insurers and major investment firms. In total the PRA regulates around 1,700 financial firms.  The PRA has a general objective to promote the safety and soundness of these firms and – specifically for insurers – contributes to the securing of an appropriate degree of protection for policyholders.

 

The Bank is responsible for the supervision of key post-trade financial market infrastructures, including securities settlement systems, central counterparties, and recognised payment systems.  Since financial markets rely on continuity of the services that these systems provide,  the supervision of financial market infrastructures links closely with the Bank’s financial stability objective.