The UK’s major banks are now better prepared for a financial crisis and less likely to require a government bailout, the Bank of England has said.
The central bank has published its second assessment of eight major banks – Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, NatWest Group, Santander UK, Standard Chartered and Virgin Money UK – under the Resolvability Assessment Framework (RAF).
The report states: “Today’s findings provide further reassurance that a major UK bank could enter resolution safely if needed: remaining open and continuing to provide vital banking services, with shareholders and investors – not public funds – first in line to bear the costs of failure. This continues to address the ‘too big to fail’ problem.”
The banks were found to have continued to make progress in improving their preparations for resolution, including embedding resolution preparations into their everyday business, and in addressing issues outstanding from the first assessment in 2022.
Dave Ramsden, the Bank of England’s deputy governor for markets, banking, payments and resolution, said: “We welcome the progress made by the major UK banks.
“Maintaining a credible and effective resolution regime is a continuous process, and authorities and firms need to respond as the financial system and regulatory landscape evolves.
“Resolvability will never be ‘done’ and there will always be lessons to learn from putting the regime into practice.”