This consultation paper (CP) sets out the Bank of England’s (the Bank’s) proposal to revoke the retained EU law Technical Standard 2019/348 on Simplified Obligations (SO UKTS).
Following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, the UK retained the EU Framework for determining the level of information required within recovery and resolution plans. This includes the process set down by the SO UKTS to determine whether ‘Simplified Obligations’ (SO) can be imposed in respect of such plans.
The Bank has found that the assessment prescribed in the SO UKTS identifies the same firms as the process that results in the setting of a preferred resolution strategy of modified insolvency. Accordingly, the Bank has determined it can achieve the same outcomes using this more efficient, existing process instead of the duplicative SO UKTS process. The ability to apply SO and any consequential benefits to firms from SO will not be affected by this proposal; the Bank only proposes to simplify the process whereby a firm is designated as eligible for SO.
The objective of this proposal is to reduce the resource burden of the prescriptive process upon the Bank, while preserving the application of SO and retaining the proportionality benefits for firms and authorities afforded by SO. Doing so will free up regulatory resource and enable better resource utilisation in other areas that require focus. There will be no impact on the firms within scope of the SO UKTS.