The Financial Services Regulatory Initiatives Forum has launched a new initiative to help financial firms prepare for future regulatory work – the Regulatory Initiatives Grid.
What will be happening?
The introduction of the Regulatory Initiatives Grid, announced by Rishi Sunak in the March Budget, has been brought forward by the Forum to help firms stretched by the impact of coronavirus.
The Forum consists of the Bank of England, the PRA, the FCA, the Payment Systems Regulator and the Competition and Markets Authority, with HM Treasury attending as an observer member. It lays out the planned timetable for major initiatives, including the transition from LIBOR and the introduction of financial services legislation to prepare for the end of the EU withdrawal transition period.
The launch also highlights initiatives that have been cancelled or delayed to ease the burden on financial services firms during the crisis, including the Bank of England’s 2020 annual stress test and a number of consultations.
What will you need to do?
The Regulatory Initiatives Grid provides detail on the timing of initiatives across all market sectors by quarters over a twelve-month horizon – in future editions, the FCA intends to extend this to twenty-four months. This is a one-year pilot exercise and the FCA wants to make the Regulatory Initiatives Grid as useful as possible, so it strongly encourages industry and other stakeholders to engage with it and to give feedback on it.
The FCA does point out however that the Regulatory Initiatives Grid is a vehicle to circulate information on the timing of regulatory initiatives and that firms reviewing it is not a substitute for their engaging with Forum members’ publications on the substance of initiatives. So it would appear that firms will have to review and digest FCA publications for a while to come.
How can we help you?
If you’d like to know more about the Regulatory Initiatives Grid, or any other aspect of FCA compliance, our expert team is here to help. Contact us today on 0207 436 0630 – or email info@thistleinitiatives.co.uk.