Braddick sets out her vision for banking watchdog with £2bn overhaul

Katharine Braddick has launched her plan to overhaul the UK banking watchdog, aiming to secure £2bn in savings for City firms. As the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) chief, appointed in July, she outlined four main goals for the next decade: resilience, growth, innovation, and transparency. Braddick emphasized the necessity of determining what the PRA must deliver in its second decade and how to create a regulator suitable for the future.

The PRA, in collaboration with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), unveiled a regulatory overhaul of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) that could save financial firms £2bn over a decade. The reforms include eliminating the annual certification process for non-senior management staff and introducing a simplified notification process for non-executive senior roles, with mandatory pre-approvals reserved exclusively for core executive leaders.

During her address at the Mansion House, Braddick underscored the importance of fostering sustainable and sustainable growth as the primary economic policy question. She noted that regulation plays a crucial role in this process, although it is rarely the decisive factor. Former Chancellor Rachel Reeves appointed Braddick to the post, with Braddick being considered an "outsider" candidate, having joined the regulator after a four-year tenure as head of strategic policy at Barclays. She was understood to have outpaced Bank of England incumbent David Bailey for the position.

Braddick also announced the PRA's plans to enhance its focus on the cyber domain as cyber threats continue to escalate. The PRA will raise the financial limits for consumer credit lenders and asset managers by nearly 50 percent, thereby imposing stricter SM&CR requirements on the largest institutions. Additionally, Braddick unveiled the creation of a new unit within the PRA dedicated to operational and cyber resilience.

She stressed the need for the PRA to become a technologically advanced regulator to stay ahead of the curve, highlighting the importance of partnering with industry and international counterparts to better understand and address cyber risks and mitigants.