UK financial services regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority has announced the launch of an operational resilience survey designed to help to identify third parties that are critical to the UK financial sector, and evaluate the benefits and risks involved for financial firms.
The survey, launched in conjunction with the Bank of England, is part of a larger project focussed on operational resilience and the role of third parties in the UK financial sector, and follows a discussion paper published in July 2022 (available here).
Commenting on the launch of the project, the FCA said: “UK financial services firms are increasingly relying on third-party services to support their operations. But while these bring multiple benefits, this increasing reliance also poses systemic risks to the supervisory authorities’ objectives, including UK financial stability, market integrity and consumer protection. No one firm can manage these potential systemic risks.”
“The Financial Services and Markets Bill sets out a statutory framework for overseeing the resilience of services third parties provide that many financial firms rely on. We (the supervisory authorities – the FCA, the PRA [Prudential Regulatory Authority] and the Bank [Bank of England]) welcome the proposals in the Bill and are launching this discussion on potential measures for these critical third parties”.
The survey is open from 11th April to 17th May 2023 and is available here.
[Image Source: The Times]
