On 27 June 2022, the House of Commons’ Treasury Sub-Committee on Financial Services Regulations issued a call for views on the PRA’s ‘Strong and Simple Framework’ proposals.

The PRA is seeking to mitigate the ‘complexity problem’ that can arise when the same prudential requirements are applied to all firms of different sizes and business models. The PRA has published draft proposals which aim to mitigate against this problem through its ‘strong and simple’ initiative that would seek to simplify the prudential framework for non-systemic domestic banks and building societies, while maintaining their resilience.

Given that the “strong and simple framework” proposals amount to a major change in prudential policy for banks and building societies, the Sub-Committee is calling for written evidence submissions, from stakeholders, that examine the impact of the proposals on the safety and soundness of smaller firms, and whether the reforms would successfully reduce the burden of regulation for these firms. In addition, views on the effect of the proposals on competition within financial services industry and for consumers are also welcome.

The Sub-Committee welcomes submissions to the questions in the call for evidence. The deadline for evidence is 11 July 2022.