On October 6, 2014, the Prudential Regulation Authority ("PRA") published a discussion paper on ensuring operational continuity in resolution in banks, building societies and investment firms regulated by the PRA. The proposals relate to the PRA's Fundamental Rule that a firm must prepare for resolution so that it can be resolved in an orderly manner with minimal disruption to critical services. The proposals include three potentially effective structures for ensuring continuity of critical shared services, design principles which set out the necessary outcomes to be achieved and assessment criteria for determining whether a firm complies with the requirements. Responses to the consultation paper are due by January 6, 2015. The PRA states that it may issue a subsequent consultation paper with draft rules in 2015. The discussion paper is one of four papers published by the PRA relating to resolution and resilience. The other papers consider proposals on depositor protection, insurance policyholder protection and structural reform for implementing the ring-fencing requirements.

The discussion paper is available at: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/pra/Documents/publications/cp/2014/dp114.pdf.

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