First published on 26 May 2016
As part of the legislative package implementing the recommendations of the Independent Commission on Banking in the UK, the FPC is required to produce a framework for a systemic risk buffer (SRB) for ring-fenced banks and large building societies.
The SRB is one of the elements of the overall capital framework for UK banks and building societies as set out by the FPC in its publication ‘The framework of capital requirements for UK banks’, which was published alongside the December 2015 Financial Stability Report.
The SRB will be applied to individual institutions by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and will be introduced at the same time ring-fencing comes into force in 2019.
Update 29 December 2020
As set out in the October 2020 FPC Record, the introduction of the Capital Requirements Directive V requires the legal basis for the systemic risk buffer (SRB) to change. As such, the FPC would replace the SRB framework with the O-SII buffer framework. The O-SII Buffer will be set at the same rate as firms’ current SRB buffer.
Update 23 May 2022
The O-SII framework was updated to reflect changes made by the Financial Policy Committee as part of its 2021 review.
Download PDF Update 3 July 2025
The O-SII buffer framework was updated to reflect changes to the Capital Buffers Regulation Statutory Instrument.[1] These are consequential changes resulting from amendments to the regulations for ring-fenced banks that aim to preserve the scope of the O-SII buffer framework in line with FPC’s policy intent.[2]
[1] The Capital Buffers and Macro-prudential Measures Regulations 2025
[2] The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Ring-fenced Bodies, Core Activities, Excluded Activities and Prohibitions) (Amendment) Order 2025