Regulators recalibrate: looser caps, a self-review, and capital steered to infrastructure

A regulator reviews itself

The UK Financial Conduct Authority has published the terms of reference for an independent review into its handling of interactions with Simon Andriesz. The review was commissioned by the FCA non-executive directors and is being conducted by Lea Paterson CBE. It covers the period from 2017 to 2026 and will assess whether the FCA met its responsibilities under whistleblowing law and whether it followed its own policies and procedures when handling whistleblowing reports. m:…5803

The review aims to identify lessons learned and make recommendations for future engagement with whistleblowers. The FCA will publish a progress update in January 2027, and the final report is expected in spring 2027. The timetable matters: a review commissioned by non-executive directors, led independently, with a public progress update and a dated final report, is designed to be judged on its findings rather than on its announcement. Until that report lands, the terms of reference are the fullest public statement of what will be examined. m:…5803

Britain loosens an old lending cap

The UK Prudential Regulation Authority, in its October 2026 digest, removed the firm-specific 15 percent cap on high loan-to-income lending. Firms individual high LTI flows will be measured on a rolling four-quarter basis, and the PRA rules and supervisory statement regarding high LTI lending take effect on October 28, 2026. Removing a firm-specific cap does not remove oversight; it changes the constraint from a fixed share per firm to a flow measured over time, which gives firms more room in any single quarter while keeping the aggregate visible. m:…1465

The PRA is also changing how its own rules age. It proposed a rules-based framework to automatically update in-scope regulatory thresholds every five years, with the first automatic update under the new framework taking place on July 1, 2031. It is conducting a phase 2 review of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, the accountability framework for senior staff in UK finance. And the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority conducted a fourth survey of artificial intelligence and machine learning in UK financial services, a sign that the regulators are tracking how firms actually use new tools while they rewrite the rules around them. m:…1465

Singapore steers capital to infrastructure

The Monetary Authority of Singapore is moving in a different direction: not loosening a cap, but repricing risk so that insurers direct more long-term capital to infrastructure and securitised assets. MAS announced new initiatives to support insurers in mobilising long-term capital for infrastructure and securitisation investments, and is consulting on a more risk-sensitive insurance capital framework to provide differentiated capital treatment for those investments. The consultation on the proposed framework enhancements closes on December 18, 2026. m:…8217

The consultation paper proposes greater granularity in risk charging for rated securitisation investments, including reducing the loading for Senior STC investment-grade rated debt-based securitisation tranches from 50 percent to 0 percent. For infrastructure, it proposes extending differentiated capital treatment to qualifying investment-grade infrastructure debt, a 20 percent reduction in credit spread risk adjustment factors for qualifying rated infrastructure debt, and a 25 percent reduction for qualifying rated infrastructure debt that meets additional lower-risk conditions. It proposes lowering equity risk charges for qualifying infrastructure equity to 30 percent for developed markets and 35 percent for emerging markets, with a floor for unrated infrastructure debt credit spread risk factors at the level of a BBB-rated corporate debt security. Rated infrastructure debt meeting specified credit quality requirements will attract lower capital charges, as will qualifying infrastructure equity and debt with risk-mitigating features, and senior investment-grade securitisation tranches meeting criteria on simplicity, transparency and comparability will attract lower charges. m:…0141 m:…8217

MAS pairs the capital changes with capability funding. It set aside S$30 million under the Financial Sector Development Fund for an Infrastructure Capability Grant for Insurers, a scheme that takes effect on November 2, 2026, and supports building dedicated investment teams, strengthening staff skills and engaging professional services. MAS is working with the industry to develop standardised disclosure templates, clearer assessment guidance and fund-manager declarations for infrastructure investments, will recognise more external credit assessment institutions with expertise in infrastructure and securitisation, and convened the Capital Workgroup with the Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry in February 2026. Insurers remain responsible for conducting their own due diligence on compliance with criteria, even when referencing third-party assessments. m:…8217 m:…0141

One pattern, three regulators

The thread across London and Singapore is recalibration rather than deregulation in any simple sense. Britain FCA is examining whether it followed its own whistleblowing rules, Britain PRA is replacing a fixed lending cap with a rolling measurement and a self-updating threshold framework, and Singapore MAS is lowering capital charges for assets it wants insurers to hold while funding the expertise to hold them safely. Each move changes incentives, but each also adds a check: a public review timetable, a rolling four-quarter flow measure, and a due-diligence duty that survives third-party assessments. m:…5803 m:…1465 m:…0141

The next markers are dated and testable. The FCA progress update is due in January 2027 with a final report expected in spring 2027, the MAS consultation closes on December 18, 2026, and the PRA first automatic threshold update would fall on July 1, 2031. Whether these recalibrations deliver their intended effects, more mortgage lending without looser standards, more infrastructure investment without weaker capital, and a whistleblowing process that learns from its own review, will be judged against those dates rather than against the announcements themselves. m:…5803 m:…8217 m:…1465