On 3 February 2026, the Bank of England (BoE) published a letter from Ruth Smith (Executive Director, Resolution Directorate) to CFOs of the major UK banks, on firms’ preparations for the third Resolvability Assessment Framework (RAF) assessment.

The letter provides information, ahead of the third RAF assessment, to support firms with their planning and ongoing work to maintain and enhance their resolvability.

The BoE is repeating its resolvability assessment of the major UK firms in 2026-27, the assessment will:

• Assess firms’ overall ability to achieve the three resolvability outcomes, leveraging the findings from firms own resolvability assurance work. The three resolvability outcomes are: 1) having adequate financial resources in the context of resolution; 2) being able to continue to do business through resolution and restructuring; and 3) be able to co-ordinate and communicate effectively within the firm and with the authorities and markets so that resolution and subsequent restructuring are orderly.
• Assess progress made by firms in remediating issues identified in previous assessments.
• Include targeted testing of firms’ capabilities under the Continuity and Restructuring outcome, with an emphasis on testing capabilities in a manner consistent with how the BOE expects to engage with firms during contingency planning, and reflecting lessons from the use of the resolution regime in 2023.

The BoE has highlighted that the findings will be published in a similar manner to previous assessments, but with a focus on the assessment of the Continuity and Restructuring outcome, and the progress made by firms in remediating issues and maintaining their resolvability.

The letter concludes by highlighting that the BoE will continue to engage with firms ahead of the start of the third assessment, including engagement on the BoE’s public statement and on issues identified by the BoE as part of previous assessments and BAU work.