Changes to publication of capital expenditure and Channel Islands and Isle of Man data

Bankstats article

By Kieran Jones and Andrew Saunderson

At present, the Bank of England collects and publishes data on monetary financial institutions’ (MFIs) capital expenditure, and balance sheet data for MFIs located in the Channel Islands and Isle of Man. A recent cost-benefit analysis has indicated that these two datasets had limited use either within the Bank or externally and discontinuation of both should be considered.  

In line with the Statistical Code of Practice applying to its statutory obligations, the Bank has a commitment to review the cost-benefits of existing data collections on an ongoing basis. As part of a recent review, it was identified that the datasets mentioned above are ones where the costs of collection, quality assurance, and publication outweighed the benefits that they provide.  

More information on the respective publications can be found as follows:

Capital expenditure data 

At present, the Bank publishes data on MFIs’ capital expenditure on a quarterly and annual basis. Data are sourced from Form CX, which is reported by a small group of eligible UK resident MFIs. Data are currently published on the Bank of England’s Interactive Database. 

As a consequence of the review, the Bank is proposing the discontinue collection and publication of new data on the Bank of England’s Interactive Database. The proposed last reference period for capital expenditure will be for Q4 2020 data, scheduled to be published on 12th February 2021. 

Annex A provides information on the specific series affected by this change.  

Channel Islands and Isle of Man data

At present, the Bank publishes balance sheet data of monetary financial institutions located in the Channel Islands and Isle of Man on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis. The latest data are available in Bankstats Table C5.1 on the Bank of England’s website, with a longer back run available on the Bank’s Interactive Database.  

Some of these data are also presented in Bankstats Table A7.1, ‘Liquid assets outside of M4’. 

After conducting the review, the Bank is proposing to discontinue the collection and publication of these data beyond the December-2020 reference period, scheduled to be published on 1st March 2021. 

See annex A of the full article for further details on published series that will be discontinued.

Next steps

Users are welcome to comment on any aspect of the proposals listed within this article, before Friday 9 October 2020, when the proposals are set to be finalised. Comments should be sent to dsdquarterly@bankofengland.co.uk.

Bankstats article - Changes to publication of capital expenditure and Channel Islands and Isle of Man data