Business
• Analysis
Bank of England and FCA plan to water down senior managers regime for City bosses
The Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority have proposed relaxing the senior managers regime, the post-2008 rules holding City bosses accountable for wrongdoing, announcing the plans at a Mansion House dinner for City executives in central London.
By Haut Monde Post
• October 22, 2026
• 2 Min Read
The UK's two top financial regulators want to loosen the post-2008 banking rules that hold City bosses to account. The Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority set out the proposals at a dinner for industry executives at the Mansion House in central London.
What the proposals would change
Under the plans, firms would stop reporting first warnings and minor misconduct, such as late arrivals or dropped calls, to regulators. Only serious cases would reach the regulators: incidents of serious misconduct, or cases ending in a final warning or dismissal. Initial concerns would still have to be flagged internally to senior management, including chief executives and chief financial officers.
- •About 140,000 managers would no longer face extra checks
- •Those staff would be freed from demonstrating integrity and compliance with regulators' conduct rules
- •Only the most senior executives, such as CEOs and CFOs, would have to prove they are "fit and proper" each year and before taking new jobs
Rules born of the 2008 crash
The senior managers regime came into force in the mid-2010s, after widespread public anger over the 2008 banking crash, when few bank bosses were held to account for actions that contributed to the crisis. It initially applied to banks and was later extended to all financial services companies, including asset managers and hedge funds.
Costs saved and the deregulation drive
The rollback follows the government's decision to give the regulators a new objective: ensuring UK firms are competitive on the world stage. It also follows an earlier move to lift the cap on banker bonuses, which had been limited to two times a banker's salary.
The regulators estimate the changes would:
- •Save businesses about £2bn over 10 years
- •Cut the Bank of England's costs by £11.5m a year
- •Cut the FCA's costs by £229m a year
Regulators' assurances
The Bank of England and the FCA said high standards of individual accountability and conduct would remain unchanged, including their commitment to ensuring that individuals are accountable for misconduct affecting society as well as their employers. The proposals are now on the table from both regulators.
