Prudential regulation

The Bank of England prudentially regulates and supervises financial services firms through the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).

Who are we

As part of the Bank of England, we are responsible for the prudential regulation and supervision of around 1,500 banks, building societies, credit unions, insurers and major investment firms.

Our rules require financial firms to maintain sufficient capital and have adequate risk controls in place. Close supervision of firms ensures that we have a comprehensive overview of their activities so that we can step in if they are not being run in a safe and sound way or, in the case of insurers, if they are not protecting policyholders adequately.

Find out more about what the PRA does

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Latest Covid-19 updates

For our latest Covid-19 updates see Our response to coronavirus (Covid-19): regulatory measures for PRA-regulated firms

30 November 2020: We published ‘PRA statement on forthcoming CRD V Policy Statement’. This statement explains when to expect further information on the PRA’s approach to transposing CRD V, including its approach to revisions to the definition of capital for Pillar 2A.

16 November 2020: As announced at the Green Horizon Summit on Monday 9 and Tuesday 10 November, HM Treasury and the Government-Regulator TCFD Taskforce have published two climate-related publications:

‘Interim Report and Roadmap for implementing the recommendations of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures’ Opens in a new window Opens in a new window Opens in a new window, published on Monday 9 November 2020.
‘The Bank’s joint statement in support of the IFRS Foundation’s consultation on sustainability reporting’, published on Tuesday 10 November 2020.

Separately on Monday 16 November 2020, the PRA published a ‘Response to the general insurance industry – A framework for assessing financial impacts of physical climate change’.

13 November 2020: On Thursday 12 November Sam Woods, Deputy Governor for Prudential Regulation and Chief Executive Officer for the PRA, delivered a speech at Mansion House setting out the intention of the PRA implementing a ‘strong and simple’ regime for regulating small UK banks and building societies.

9 November 2020: We published an updated statement on Covid guidance to replace previous guidance for PRA-regulated firms ‘Statement by the PRA on key financial workers who are critical to the Covid-19 response’, in light of updates from UK Government.

Read the PRA Regulatory Digest

See all prudential regulation communications published in the last month

Consultations papers, policy statements, supervisory statements and statements of policy can be viewed individually by following the links below. Policy statements are published on the same page as the accompanying consultation paper.