Published on 01 June 2021
PS11/21 – Strengthening accountability: Temporary, long-term absences
Overview
This Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) Policy Statement (PS) provides feedback to responses to Chapter 2 of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Consultation Paper (CP) 20/23 ‘Quarterly Consultation Paper No. 30’. Chapter 2 of the CP jointly proposed PRA and FCA expectations regarding temporary, long-term absences for Senior Management Functions (SMF).
This PS also contains the PRA’s final policy, as follows:
- consequential amendments to the PRA Rulebook (Appendix 1);
- an updated Supervisory Statement (SS) 28/15 ‘Strengthening individual accountability in banking’ (Appendix 2);
- an updated SS35/15 ‘Strengthening individual accountability in insurance’ (Appendix 3); and
- an updated Form D – ‘Changes to personal information/application details and conduct breaches/disciplinary action related to conduct’ (Appendix 4);
This PS is relevant to all PRA-authorised firms.
Summary of responses
The PRA received eight responses to the CP. Respondents generally welcomed the PRA’s proposals. Some respondents also made observations and requests for clarification, which are set out in Chapter 2.
Implementation
All changes outlined in this PS will take effect from Wednesday 2 June 2021.
The proposals set out in this PS have been designed in the context of the UK having left the European Union and the transition period having come to an end. Unless otherwise stated, any references to EU or EU derived legislation refer to the version of that legislation which forms part of retained EU law. The PRA will keep the policy under review to assess whether any changes would be required due to changes in the UK regulatory framework.
Policy Statement
Appendix
- Appendix 1: PRA RULEBOOK: CRR FIRMS: CRR FIRMS, NON-CRR FIRMS, SOLVENCY II FIRMS, NON-SOLVENCY II FIRMS: SENIOR MANAGERS REGIME APPLICATIONS AND NOTIFICATIONS - TEMPORARY ABSENCE INSTRUMENT 2021 (pdf)
- Appendix 2: SS28/15 ‘Strengthening individual accountability in banking
- Appendix 3: SS35/15 ‘Strengthening individual accountability in insurance
- Appendix 4: Form D – ‘Changes to personal information/application details and conduct breaches/disciplinary action related to conduct (pdf)
Published on 04 December 2020
CP23/20 - Joint PRA and FCA Chapter ‘Clarifying our expectations for temporary, long-term absences’ within the FCA Quarterly Consultation Paper
Overview
Although the PRA and FCA have considered the proposals independently of one another and in accordance with their statutory objectives, they have decided to consult jointly in order to avoid unnecessary duplication.
The PRA and FCA propose to clarify their expectations for firms notifying them of when a Senior Manager takes temporary leave for longer than 12 weeks (long-term leave), for example in cases of parental leave and where the length of absence is not known.
This CP is relevant to all PRA-authorised firms.
Response and next steps
The full consultation paper is hosted on the FCA’s website. The consultation closing date is Thursday 4 February 2021. Please address any comments by using the response form on the FCA website.