On 16 November 2020, there was published on the legislation.gov.uk website The Payment Services and Electronic Money (Amendment) Regulations 2020.

This statutory instrument amends the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 and the Payment Services Regulations 2017 in order to apply sections 93(4) and 233-236 of the Banking Act 2009, with modifications, to authorised electronic money institutions, small electronic money institutions, authorised payment institutions and small payment institutions.  This will allow HM Treasury to make regulations to modify insolvency law with respect to these institutions, including setting up a bespoke insolvency regime applicable to them.  Specifically, HM Treasury intends to use this power to create a Special Administration Regime for payments and e-money institutions (pSAR). The existing Special Administration Regime for investment banks has been successful in returning client assets more quickly and at reduced cost, and similar outcomes are anticipated for consumers of institutions in the payments and e-money sectors. The pSAR would give insolvency practitioners administering the insolvencies of payments or electronic money institutions an expanded toolkit. This would allow insolvency practitioners to keep an insolvent institution operational and prioritise the return of client assets.

The statutory instrument does not relate to the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union.