The Bank of England has announced a significant update to the way banks and building societies across the UK report their balance sheet data. In a move designed to streamline the regulatory process, the central bank issued Statistical Notice 2026/08 on 15 September 2026, outlining new criteria for the frequency of “Form BT” submissions.
Form BT is a core statistical return used to monitor the UK’s monetary and financial landscape. Under the revised rules, the Bank is aligning the frequency of these reports with other high-frequency data returns. The shift is intended to ensure that reporting requirements remain proportionate, reducing the administrative burden on smaller institutions while maintaining the quality of data provided by major lenders.
The New Reporting Criteria
The primary change determines whether a firm must file Form BT on a monthly or quarterly basis. For many institutions that do not deal in high-frequency credit data, the requirement will move from monthly to quarterly reporting.
Monthly reporting for Form BT will now be mandatory only for firms that also submit monthly returns for any of the following specific data sets:
- Form BE: Sectoral detail, providing a breakdown of who the bank is lending to and where deposits are coming from.
- Form BN: Non-resident business, tracking transactions with entities outside the UK.
- Form GT: Gilts and Treasury Bills, covering the holding and trading of government debt.
- Form ER: Effective interest rates, which tracks the actual rates being charged to customers and paid to savers.
Financial institutions that do not meet these specific criteria will generally be moved to a quarterly reporting schedule. However, all UK banks and building societies holding a deposit-taking licence must continue to submit Form BT at least once every three months.
Implementation and Next Steps
The Bank of England has confirmed it will contact affected firms individually to confirm their specific reporting schedule and any changes to their filing deadlines. This ensures that compliance teams have direct confirmation of whether their workload will be reduced to quarterly filings or if they must maintain a monthly cycle.
While the new thresholds provide a clear framework, the Bank retains discretionary power to override these criteria. If the central bank deems it necessary for financial stability or statistical accuracy, it can still request monthly data from any firm, regardless of whether they trigger the BE, BN, GT, or ER requirements.
By synchronising Form BT with other “Money and Credit” returns, the Bank aims to provide a more coherent picture of the UK economy. For the financial sector, the change represents a targeted reduction in “reporting drag,” allowing firms that are less central to monthly credit monitoring to focus their resources elsewhere.