Payment Systems Regulator
The financial crash of 2008 was a wake up call to the inadequacies of financial regulation worldwide. The basic payment service mechanisms on which everything relies did not escape the notice of the authorities. The upshot is a new regulator of the 'plumbing' of the financial system. This note describes its establishment and scope.
This note sets out some basic information about the Payment Systems Regulator which is one of the new regulatory bodies set up in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008. Although, by and large, payment systems remained stable throughout the crisis, the potential consequences of a breakdown in the ‘plumbing’ of the system, on top of all the other problems at the time, alerted authorities worldwide to a possible weakness in their regulatory powers.
Part 5 of the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 established a new regulator – the Payment Services Regulator or PSR. The current task for the Financial Conduct Authority, the body responsible for the PSR, is to draw up the framework of rules and guidance which will be employed from next year.
In March 2015 the PSR set out its policy framework document, and announced its forthcoming work programme in its subsequent business plans.
The Regulator has various work streams, not least co-ordinating efforts to stop online fraud.