On 14 October 2024, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Tulip Siddiq MP made a statement regarding reforms to bank ring-fencing.

The statement provides that the government will implement a package of reforms as soon as parliamentary time allows and such reforms will include:

  • The introduction of a secondary threshold to exempt retail-focussed banking groups from the regime – where investment banking activity accounts for less than 10% of Tier 1 capital.
  • New flexibilities to allow ring-fenced banks to operate globally, subject to PRA rules.
  • Measures to encourage more investment by ring-fenced banks in UK SMEs.
  • Measures to reduce the compliance burdens associated with the regime.
  • An increase in the primary deposit threshold for ring-fenced banks, from £25bn to £35bn.