PRA DP1/26: Future Banking Data - Reforming Regulatory Reporting to Cut Cost and Improve Quality
Credit: Tech Funnel
Over 120 capital reporting templates, 100+ credit risk collections, the PRA wants to know which ones are worth keeping and is offering banks a seat at the table.
Context:
On 4 February 2026, the PRA published Discussion Paper DP1/26, Future Banking Data, setting out its strategic approach to reforming banking regulatory reporting under its Future Banking Data (FBD) programme. The consultation closes on 5 May 2026.
The FBD programme sits squarely within the PRA's secondary competitiveness and growth objective: regulatory data collection is essential for supervision, but its current scale and complexity impose costs on firms that the PRA itself acknowledges could be reduced without compromising supervisory effectiveness. The current data estate, built up incrementally since the financial crisis and augmented post-Brexit, has become complex, costly, and in places unnecessarily duplicative.
The discussion paper follows the first phase of template deletions implemented from 31 December 2025 under PS27/25, and signals that further, more substantial rationalisation is planned. However, the PRA is explicit that reform will be pragmatic and incremental, not a 'big bang' overhaul and that any changes will be sequenced to avoid imposing large one-off implementation costs.
Rules and Guidelines:
DP1/26 does not impose new rules. Instead, it sets out four guiding principles for how the PRA intends to reform data collection: (i) objectives-driven collection, only collecting what is needed to fulfil supervisory, policy, and financial stability purposes; (ii) collect once and well, reducing duplication across different reporting frameworks; (iii) easier supply of high-quality data, reducing complexity for firms in producing and submitting data; and (iv) keeping collections fit for purpose; a commitment to ongoing review rather than periodic wholesale reform.
The DP identifies six distinct use cases for banking data: firm supervision, crisis supervision, cross-sectional analysis (benchmarking), policy and research, stress testing, and resolution planning. It sets out the trade-offs the PRA expects to navigate, particularly the tension between timeliness (especially in crises) and comparability, and between granularity and proportionality for smaller firms.
Likely priority areas for rationalisation include legacy FSA templates, overlapping capital and credit risk collections (currently spanning 120+ and 100+ templates respectively), and fragmented mortgage data reporting. The PRA also links this work to the Strong and Simple framework, under which Small Domestic Deposit Takers (SDDTs) are already receiving proportionate reporting reductions from January 2027.
Businesses Affected:
All PRA-authorised UK banks, building societies, and PRA-designated UK investment firms, and their qualifying parent undertakings.
Financial holding companies and mixed financial holding companies that are parents of in-scope firms.
Credit institutions, investment firms, and financial institutions that are subsidiaries of in-scope firms, regardless of location.
Firms in the scope of the Strong and Simple framework (SDDTs), who are already benefiting from proportionate reporting reductions, will see further development through DP1/26.
Next Steps:
Respond to DP1/26 by 5 May 2026. This is a genuine opportunity to influence the future reporting burden, identify the templates and collections that impose the most cost relative to their supervisory value.
Audit current data production costs. Quantify the steady-state cost of reporting and the one-off cost of change for key templates; the PRA has explicitly asked for this evidence to sequence reforms effectively.
Engage in the 'collect once and well' principle. Identify where the same data is being submitted in multiple formats to the PRA, FCA, and other regulators, and make the case for harmonisation.
Track the January 2027 Basel 3.1 reporting taxonomy changes (v4.0.0), which must be implemented in parallel with the FBD programme. Ensure implementation plans do not conflict.
Source | Prudential Regulation Authority | Future Banking Data
