What are our secondary objectives?
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) states that:
‛When discharging its general functions in a way that advances its objectives […] the PRA must, so far as reasonably possible, act in a way that advances the following secondary objectives –
(a) the competition objective, and
(b) the competitiveness and growth objective.’
The secondary competition objective (SCO) is: ‘facilitating effective competition in the markets for services provided by PRA authorised persons in carrying on regulated activities’.
Since it came into effect, our SCO has helped inform the design of several important parts of our framework for prudential regulation. In addition to new policies, we take a proactive approach to our secondary competition objective by considering changes to existing policies to facilitate effective competition, and undertake research on competition in UK financial markets.
The secondary competitiveness and growth objective (SCGO) is: ‘facilitating, subject to aligning with relevant international standards – (a) the international competitiveness of the economy of the United Kingdom (including in particular, the financial services sector through the contribution of PRA authorised persons), and (b) its growth in the medium to long term’.
The SCGO came into force in 2023 and sits alongside our SCO. We take a proactive approach to the SCGO and have embedded competitiveness and growth considerations in our policymaking processes. We are required to report yearly on how the PRA has advanced its secondary objectives.
Read about how we have advanced both our secondary objectives in the PRA’s Competitiveness and Growth Report 2025.