Form IPA BEEDS UAT window opening and Sustainable Finance
The Bank announced in Statistical Notice 2022/20 changes to Form IPA that will come into effect in December 2023 for the November 2023 reporting period. This Statistical Notice provides an update on the availability of a UAT window and a change to the reporting requirements for green debt.
BEEDS UAT window opening
We are pleased to announce the BEEDs statistical reporting UAT window for Form IPA will commence from 31 August 2023. The UAT window will remain open until 15 September 2023. Once the testing environment is ready, communication will be sent to principal users to advise of this - please note that this likely to be on 30 August 2023.
Those IPA Firms that we are expecting to report on BEEDS for the new Form IPA will be contacted shortly regarding plans for on boarding.
We expect to open a second UAT window to commence from 30 October 2023 to 13 November 2023.
Sustainable finance
Included in the new Form IPA template is the requirement to identify green finance (C0280 of the template). This field was added to enable the UK to meet its commitment to the latest G20 Data Gap Initiative (DGI). Following further consideration by the DGI Green Finance Task Team, the DGI requirements have expanded to identify green bonds, sustainability bonds, and sustainability-linked bonds.
In broad terms, green bonds can be defined as debt securities whose proceeds are used to fund projects intended to deliver a positive environmental impact; sustainability bonds can be defined as debt securities whose proceeds are used to fund projects intended to deliver a combination of positive environmental and social impact, and; sustainability-linked bonds can be defined as debt securities whose characteristics (e.g. coupon payments) can vary depending on whether the issuer achieves predefined environmental or other sustainability objectives. The Form IPA definitions will be updated to include further guidance on the three different bond types. Until the Bank is in a position to provide definitive guidance on these three types of bonds, please report on a best endeavours basis any security that meets the criteria outlined above.
The Bank does not plan to amend the reporting template at this stage but would ask that reporting IPAs include all three types of bonds when completing item C0280. The likelihood is that the Bank will update the Form IPA template at some point in the future to enable the separate identification of the three different types of bonds.
For any queries, please contact DSDSecurities@bankofengland.co.uk.
Footnote
A summary of all Statistical Notice items that are yet to come into effect are also available to view on the Statistical notices page. Statistical Notices should be received by all those responsible for the completion of Bank of England returns. To amend the circulation list please subscribe.