On 5 December 2025, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) (the regulators) published a joint report into the mutuals landscape.
The regulators explained that their ambition is to facilitate the long-term sustainable growth of the sector and ensure that mutuals have the same opportunities to compete as other firms and that they consider that this will be achieved through:
- Proportionate regulation.
- Initiatives that support mutuals in addressing the challenges and opportunities they face.
- Sector engagement and collaboration.
The regulators are also taking forward several initiatives to support the specific needs of the financial mutuals sector including:
- A joint scale-up unit to provide regulatory support to eligible firms, including mutuals, which are looking to grow rapidly.
- The PRA withdrew [LINK to blog below] the supervisory statement setting out specific expectations on building societies’ activities thereby creating a level-playing field with banks.
- The PRA consulted on amending rules to remove barriers to credit unions establishing Credit Union Service Organisations and set out that the final policy will be published in February 2026.
- The FCA promoted home ownership by reminding mortgage providers of the flexibility of its rules. Following consultation, the FCA set out changes to its rules designed to simplify specific responsible lending and advice rules for mutuals.
In addition, the regulators intend to undertake a comprehensive review of the credit union sector’s future trajectory, and to consider the longer-term evolution of the sector’s regulatory framework.