SYSC 20.1 Application and purpose
Application
-
(1)
- (a) 32
which is:
- 2
- (i) 2
a bank; or
- (ii) 2
a building society; or
- (iii) 2
a designated investment firm3 which meets any of the criteria set out in (2) on an individual basis, or in (3) on a consolidated basis; and
3
- (i) 2
- (b)
an insurer unless it is:
- (i)
- (ii)
a Swiss general insurer; or
- (iii)
an EEA-deposit insurer; or
- (iv)
an incoming EEA firm; or
- (v)
- (a) 32
-
(2)
Subject to (4), SYSC 20 applies to2 a designated investment firm3 if:
232- (a)
it has assets under management or administration of at least 2£10 billion (or the equivalent amount in foreign currency); or
22 - (b)
the total annual fee and commission income arising from its regulated activities isat least2 £250 million (or the equivalent amount in foreign currency); or
2 - (c)
it has assets or2 liabilities of at least2 £2 billion (or the equivalent amount in foreign currency).
22
- (a)
-
(3)
Subject to (4), where2 all of the designated investment firms3 within the same consolidation group3 or non-EEA sub-group, taken together as if they were one firm, meet any of the criteria in (2),22SYSC 20 applies to each of those designated investment firms3 as if it individually met the inclusion criteria in (2).2
2333 -
(4)
Any designated investment firm3 which is included within the scope of SYSC 202 in accordance with (2) or2 (3) in any given year will continue to be subject to SYSC 20 for the following two years irrespective of whether or not 2it continues to meet the inclusion criteria2 in any of those subsequent years.
3222
-
(1) 4
SYSC 20 applies to:
- (a)
an IFPRU investment firm; and
- (b)
a BIPRU firm which meets any of the criteria in (2) on an individual basis, or in (3) on a consolidated basis.
- (a)
-
(2)
Subject to (4), SYSC 20 applies to a BIPRU firm if:
- (a)
it has assets under management or administration of at least £10 billion (or the equivalent amount in foreign currency); or
- (b)
the total annual fee and commission arising from regulated activities is at least £250 million (or the equivalent amount in foreign currency); or
- (c)
it has assets or liabilities of at least £2 billion (or the equivalent amount in foreign currency).
- (a)
-
(3)
Subject to (4), where all of the BIPRU firms within the same UK consolidation group or non-EEA sub-group, taken together, as if they were one firm, meet any of the criteria in (2), SYSC 20 applies to each of those BIPRU firms as if it individually met the criteria in (2).
-
(4)
Any BIPRU firm which is included within the scope of SYSC 20 in accordance with (2) or (3) in any given year will continue to be subject to SYSC 20 for the following two years, irrespective of whether or not it continues to meet the inclusion criteria in any of those subsequent years.
Purpose
This chapter contains rules on reverse stress testing, which require a firm to identify and assess events and circumstances that would cause its business model to become unviable. This chapter also requires the firm's senior management or governing body to review and approve the results of the reverse stress testing exercise. This should help the firm's senior management to identify the firm's vulnerabilities and design a strategy to prevent or mitigate the risk of business failure.
9The reverse stress testing requirements are an integral component of a firms business planning and risk management under SYSC. For firms as referred to in SYSC 20.1.1R (1)(a) and IFPRU investment firms as referred to in SYSC 20.1.1R (1)(a)5, this chapter amplifies SYSC 7.1.1 G to SYSC 7.1.8 G on risk control.
5