What we do
You wouldn’t give money to someone you didn’t trust, would you?
Making a deposit into a bank or building society account is like giving your trust to that organisation. You trust that it will look after your money and, when you want to access that money again, it will be there. The same goes when buying a policy with an insurer, you expect it to pay out when you need it.
These are the companies that hold your money for you so that you can make and receive payments and control your financial life.
There is a responsibility that comes with that. That’s where the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) comes in. It is our role to ensure that financial institutions act safely and reduce the chance of getting into difficulty.
We do this by supervising firms – we create policies for them to follow as well as watch over aspects of the business, to ensure the financial services and products we all rely on can be provided in a safe and sound way.
Today we supervise around 1,500 financial institutions, including:
- Banks
- Building societies
- Credit unions
- Insurers
- Major investment firms
The Bank of England also regulates some financial market infrastructures (FMIs). These are the networks that allow financial transactions to take place, for example when people are paid their salary or pension payments into their bank accounts.