On 20 September 2024, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) published an updated version of its guidance on powers and procedures.

The guidance covers the PSR’s role as the regulator for payment systems and the powers it has under the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2023 (FSBRA) to take regulatory action by way of making directions and imposing requirements and also take enforcement action for non-compliance.

The update to the guidance follows an earlier consultation which included proposals to amend the following:

• Paragraph 5.7 – process for opening an investigation.
• Paragraph 5.12 – flexibility for staff deployed on monitoring or enforcement to work across functions.

The guidance explains:

• The PSR’s role and ways of working (Chapter 2).
• The FSBRA legal and regulatory framework under which the PSR operates (Chapter 3).
• The PSR’s powers to take regulatory action under FSBRA, how it will decide what, if any, action to take, what processes and procedures it will follow, and how a party can appeal against regulatory action (Chapter 4).
• The PSR’s powers to take enforcement action under FSBRA where it considers that a compliance failure has occurred, how it will decide what, if any, enforcement action to take, what processes and procedures it will follow, and how a party can appeal against a decision to impose a penalty or publish details of any compliance failure (Chapter 5).

The updated guidance came into effect on 20 September 2024.