s. regulators appreciate the fact that we are able to operate as independent agencies but also realize that we have an obligation to keep the elected representatives informed of our progress in this major effort. of course, it is expected that other countries and the european union will be following their own procedures as well. overall, i have been impressed by the efficacy of the comment process and believe it offers an open forum for all parties to voice their opinions. debate and discussion on such an important undertaking are essential, and - if solid and convincing arguments are put forth - provide a real opportunity for enhancements to the final product. the current proposal is better because the comments have elicited good ideas that have been taken seriously. future comments based on sound thought and evidence will create further modifications. but i must say that simple assertions will not carry very much weight. at the same time, we do need to ensure that momentum is maintained. in october, the committee members committed to work promptly to resolve outstanding issues by mid - 2004. in january, the basel committee will meet to address further analysis of outstanding issues and review the timetable for completing and implementing the committee ’ s work on the accord. using the agreement reached in the committee as a template, u. s. supervisors then plan to conduct another quantitative impact study ( qis ) to gauge more clearly the impact of the basel proposals. we believe it is critical that we carefully test the new proposal to determine its effects on individual institutions and to ascertain the need to fine - tune the proposal further, a process that could include recalibrating some of the risk - weight functions. it is our sense that other countries will be doing the same. because timing is a function of the degree of changes required by the qis, the u. s. agencies will then conduct a full notice of proposed rulemaking once again to seek and then evaluate public comments before adopting a final rule. u. s. proposals for basel ii against that background, let me turn to a number of topics that some have raised about basel ii. the u. s. banking agencies have, as you know, proposed to implement basel ii somewhat differently than other nations have. these differences are perfectly consistent with the spirit and letter of the proposal, and reflect the particular characteristics of the u. s. banking system and the rules and regulations under which it operates. while our approach is best for the united states, it is not necessarily best for other nations. the u. s. banking

the modern gatekeeper − speech by nathanael benjamin given at thecityuk published on 23 november 2023 the pra ’ s authorisations function plays an important role as a gateway into uk financial services. in this speech nat benjamin talks about how the function has adapted to the tumult of recent years and offers a vision for a streamlined but robust approach to regulatory transactions that supports the uk's competitiveness in the post - brexit era. speech opening remarks good morning, everyone, and thank you to thecityuk and ey for hosting us today. i want to begin by telling you that i am particularly pleased to be giving this speech. as this is my last public speech as the executive director of authorisations, regulatory technology, and international supervision, i ’ m delighted to finish my tenure in that role by speaking to some of the work that i have been most proud of over the past few years. so, i ’ m going to cover how we have adapted to the tumult of recent years from an authorisation ’ s perspective. in that spirit i will touch on several areas relevant to that. these include our new secondary growth and competitiveness objective, our operational performance, and the senior managers and certification regime ( smcr ). i will also take this opportunity to set out our mindset for the future in a post - brexit landscape. the prudential regulation authority ’ s ( pra ) authorisations function [ 1 ] is really a gateway into the pra [ 2 ] – one through which all firms pass, ranging from your local credit union to the largest banks and insurers : we are there at the outset when a new business is looking to take flight, we are there as firms evolve their strategy by adding new activities, we are there when a new executive team takes over, we are there when a merger or acquisition takes place, … and we are also there if a firm ’ s journey ends, to support an orderly exit from the market, and to cancel their permissions. and that means we ’ re busy! we deal with over 1, 800 authorisation requests annually across multiple types [ 3 ] of regulatory transactions. some firms might be interacting with us only occasionally, while for others it will be several times a year. but whatever the reason, we know that these applications are critical for firms ’ ability to operate and pursue their strategies effectively. however, we are much more than this. one could view a