On 3 December 2020, HM Treasury published a consultation regarding insolvency changes for payment and electronic money institutions.

To address shortcomings with the current insolvency regime, the Government proposes introducing a bespoke special administration regime (SAR) for payment institutions (PIs) and electronic money institutions (EMIs). Following the success of The Investment Bank Special Administration Regulations 2011 (Investment Bank SAR), the Government proposes utilising it as a model for the new regime, with appropriate amendments to reflect the operational and regulatory differences between the sectors. Two annexes to the consultation provide details of the draft regulations for the proposed SAR. The regulations will create the new regime. On 17 December, the Government will publish a further annex with details regarding rules for the proposed SAR. The rules will be closely related to the Investment Bank SAR rules with minor modifications.

Responses to the consultation are requested by 23:59 on 14 January 2021. For responses specifically on proposals for the rules published on 17 December, HM Treasury will take responses for a further two weeks until 23:59 on 28 January 2021. The Government cannot guarantee that responses received after these dates will be considered.