UK financial regulators to begin overseeing Critical Third Parties announced by HM Treasury

News release

The Bank of England (the Bank), the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will start overseeing the first Critical Third Parties (CTPs) on Monday 13 July 2026, following designation by HM Treasury (HMT). 

Critical Third Parties (CTPs) are technology and other service providers whose services underpin the UK financial system. Today HMT has announced its first designations of four global cloud services and technology providers: Amazon Web Services EMEA SARL, Google Cloud EMEA Limited, Microsoft Ireland Operations Ltd, and Oracle Corporation UK Limited. As many firms rely on these services, disruption or failure could affect multiple firms or markets at the same time, potentially impacting UK financial stability and services used by millions of consumers and businesses. 

For the first time, the three regulators will jointly oversee these CTPs under a new, proportionate regime, focused on the resilience of the critical services they provide to the UK financial sector. The regulators will work together with the CTPs to address system‑level risks and reduce the risk of disruption to the services they provide spreading across the UK financial system. This will strengthen system-wide resilience and improve coordination and information sharing across the UK financial sector. CTPs must identify and manage risks to their critical services effectively, and maintain open, timely communication with regulators and the firms that rely on them, particularly during major incidents. 

Together, these changes support a more resilient environment for firms to operate in, which will, in turn support financial stability and confidence in UK financial markets. 

This regime complements, but does not replace, existing outsourcing and operational resilience rules for regulated firms who remain responsible for managing their own third-party arrangements including due diligence, risk management and contingency planning. 

Sarah Breeden, Deputy Governor for Financial Stability at the Bank of England, said: 

“As critical third parties become increasingly embedded in the operations of financial institutions, they can introduce new forms of systemic risk. Our proportionate approach to overseeing these providers will ensure that these dependencies are managed in a way that safeguards financial stability.”  

Katharine Braddick, Deputy Governor for Prudential Regulation and CEO of the PRA, said: 

“By bringing critical third parties into the scope of oversight, we are ensuring that the infrastructure underpinning UK financial services is robust enough to support UK financial stability and confidence. This directly supports the PRA’s objective to promote the safety and soundness of regulated firms.” 

Nikhil Rathi, Chief Executive at the FCA, said:  

“Critical third parties provide essential services which support innovation and growth. At the same time, when the same providers serve thousands of firms, a single failure can reverberate across the financial system. Operationalising this regime strengthens our ability to tackle those risks and improve overall resilience, ensuring the UK remains a safe and attractive place to do business.” 

HMT is responsible for deciding which third party providers are designated as CTPs, and any future designations or de-designations. 

The regulators will periodically review whether CTPs continue to meet the designation criteria, making recommendations to HMT, and evaluate the effectiveness of the oversight approach. The Bank, PRA and FCA will continue to work closely with HMT, the financial services industry and designated CTPs as the regime is implemented, while supporting innovation, and UK growth and competitiveness.  

Notes to editors