Top stories

1. Major banks to publish ?living wills? by 2021 

2. Government calls for back-door approach to encrypted messaging platforms

Stat of the day

One in ten

The number of British taxpayers who has offshore financial interests according to HMRC data (The Times, p14, print only £).

Major banks to publish ?living wills? by 2021 

The Bank of England (BoE) confirmed yesterday big UK banks will have to publish their ?living wills? from June 2021.  It's reported all lenders with more than £50 billion in retail deposits would be subject to the rules; the same benchmark used for the BoE's stress tests of lenders? balance sheets without a ?pass? or ?fail? judgement (Financial Times, p1, £). The Bank will assess if lenders have made enough progress in becoming ?resolvable? as well as having plans on how detailed banking services could continue while authorities officially wind a bank down.

Lenders must submit their initial reports to the BoE by October 2020 and the first assessments are scheduled for publication the following summer (Reuters, online only).

Commenting on this, Simon Hills, Director, Prudential Policy, UK Finance, said:

?Over the past decade, the UK's banking system has been fundamentally reformed to significantly improve resilience and ensure that taxpayers never have to bail out a bank again.

?Banks now hold ten times more of the highest quality capital than before the global recession and twice as many liquid assets.

?However, in the unlikely event that a major bank should fail, the Resolution Assessment Framework will help ensure that losses are borne by investors not the taxpayer, and that the bank is resolved in an orderly manner that minimises any disruption to customers.

?UK Finance will continue working closely with its members and the authorities so that the Bank of England can meet its commitment to Parliament that all major UK banks will be fully resolvable by 2022.?

Government calls for back-door approach to encrypted messaging platforms

Facebook threatens to hamper the fight against crime by increasing encryption, the new home secretary Priti Patel has warned.  Writing in the Telegraph, Ms Patel says this decision would prevent law enforcement agencies and our international allies investigating and tracking down criminals by enabling criminals to hide their messages.

The home secretary calls on social media and technology firms to cooperate with intelligence agencies by giving them ?lawful access? to encrypted messages though a ?back door ?approach. It's reported the ?Five Eyes? Nations - the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada support the governments warnings (Telegraph, p1,2).?

News in Brief

• The Daily Mail (p37) reports on new European legislation known as Strong Customer Authentication that will require customers to authenticate certain online payments. UK Finance is working with firms to ensure the changes are clearly communicated to customers and retailers.
• Despite concerns about Brexit and the wider economy, consumers feel more positive about their finances this month, according to the latest GFK consumer confidence index (The Times, p14 £).
• Apple has announced it will launch a credit card this month. The ?Apple Card? will include a user interface which shows customers where purchases were made and the amount of each transaction (The Guardian, p27).
• The owner of Ladbrokes Coral has been fined £5.9 million for failing to deliver its anti-money laundering measures and not protecting vulnerable customers (BBC online).
• Research by Moneyfacts has shown mortgage fees for the last two years have dropped by more than £200, with the average fee falling by £262 to £811 since July 2018 (Daily Mail, print only, p44).
• Research from accountancy firm RSM shows that the number of young people going bankrupt has risen tenfold in three years, with those aged between 18 and 25 now accounting for one in 15 of all personal insolvencies, up from 100 in 2016 (Daily Telegraph, print only, p1 £).

Latest from UK Finance

Callum Bilbe, Analyst, Data & Research, blogs on UK Finance's annual data on the largest mortgage lenders in 2018, including the growth in the later life lending sector.

What the commentators say

In the Financial Times (£, online only) Mehreen Khan, Jim Pickard and Janina Conboye comment on how prepared the EU and the UK are for a ?no-deal? Brexit, and consider the five most exposed areas: namely data flows, financial services, customs, transport and fisheries. They conclude that while financial services is one of the few areas where EU regulators have put important contingency measures in place, this key sector of the UK economy still faces significant disruption and the long-term loss of market access.  

Calendar

• Nationwide House Price Index
• FCA publishes final guidance on cryptoassets