On 17 January 2025, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) announced that, following consultation with HM Treasury, it was delaying the implementation of Basel 3.1 in the UK by one year until 1 January 2027.
The PRA states that the delay is to allow more time for greater clarity to emerge about the United States’ plans for Basel 3.1.
In September 2024, the PRA published Policy Statement 9/24 (PS9/24) which set out near final rules to implement Basel 3.1 in the PRA Rulebook. The publication delayed the implementation date by six months to 1 January 2026 based on consultation feedback and the PRA’s ongoing monitoring of the implementation timelines of other jurisdictions. The PRA now expects to implement on 1 January 2027 but will continue to monitor developments. In line with the approach taken for the six-month delay in PS9/24, the transitional periods in the rules will be reduced to ensure the date of full implementation remains at 1 January 2030, as set out in the original proposals.
The PRA adds that it is pausing until further notice its planned data collection exercise of an off-cycle review of firm-specific Pillar 2 capital requirements so that they could be updated at the same time as the implementation of the Basel 3.1 standards.
Also, in light of the delay to implementation, the end-date of the time-window to join the Interim Capital Regime – previously set as 28 February 2025 – will be moved back. The PRA will provide further information in due course.