The Bank of England’s regulatory arm ended its first year with a surplus and has proposed a 4 per cent cut in the levy it charges lenders for supervision in the coming financial year.
The central bank’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) was launched in April 2013 as part of a British shake-up of supervision after previous watchdogs failed to see the 2007-09 financial crisis coming.
In a bid to avoid taxpayers having to bail out banks again, supervision of lenders was handed to the BoE, which has been among the toughest regulators in the world, forcing banks to hold far more capital than required under new global standards.
The PRA said today it has an estimated surplus of £19.6 million (€23.7 million) from the fees on banks it levied in the 2013/14 financial year, which ends this month.
The money will be refunded to banks as part of the coming year’s fee collection. The proposed funding requirement for the coming year is £227.2 million, down 4 per cent.
"The PRA will maintain its commitment to exercising budget discipline to provide value for money for regulated firms," the watchdog, headed by Bank of England Deputy Governor Andrew Bailey said in a statement.
