Regulatory News
Bank of England minutes flag stable money markets
Bank of England Money Market Committee minutes said UK money markets remained smooth in September, with RTGS and CHAPS hours also under review.
- Members said money markets continued to function smoothly and funding conditions remained stable.
- Bank staff updated members on plans to extend RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours.
- The committee noted ongoing industry engagement on Euroclear UK & International’s proposed MiniCREST contingency arrangement.
Action
The Bank of England published minutes of the Money Markets Committee meeting held on 25 September 2026. Members discussed market conditions, settlement hours and related industry work.
Market conditions
Members said money markets continued to function smoothly and funding conditions remained stable, even during recent increased bond market volatility. Liquidity was reported to be ample, with limited signs of stress.
They also said cross-currency funding conditions were stable despite recent geopolitical developments and broader market volatility. Members noted increased issuance activity in European Commercial Paper markets and growing use of those funding channels.
Members discussed proposed changes to the leverage ratio framework and said they generally welcomed the direction of the proposals. They also noted increasing competition for retail and corporate deposits.
RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours
Bank staff updated members on plans to extend RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours to support innovation, cross-border payments and liquidity management. Feedback to the May 2026 Consultation Paper was broadly supportive, with respondents generally favouring an extension of existing operating days before adding further operating days.
Members supported the overall direction of travel but raised practical issues. These included liquidity facilities outside current hours, weekend and bank holiday liquidity and collateral management, and firms' operational resilience arrangements.
They also discussed value-date rollover during an extended settlement day. Bank staff said work would continue with industry to better understand the issues and provide further clarity on the proposed approach.
Other business
The chair said there was ongoing industry engagement on Euroclear UK & International's proposed MiniCREST contingency arrangement for an extreme but plausible cyber-attack scenario, and proposed returning to the topic at the December meeting.
The Sterling Money Markets Code Sub-Committee is preparing the next update to the Code, with publication planned for 2027 in line with the three-year review cycle.
Members were also informed of a report by the Association of Corporate Treasurers on promoting the UK as a location for corporate treasury centres.
Source: Bank of England News,