Find out how and why we use attestations as a supervisory tool.
An attestation is a firm's formal statement that it will take, or has taken, an action we require. We use attestations as a supervisory tool to ensure that regulated firms - and senior individuals within them – are clearly accountable for taking the actions we require, often without our ongoing regulatory involvement.
The most usual situations when we ask for attestations include:
- Notification – The most appropriate senior individual(s) within a firm attest to notify us if an emerging risk changes in its nature or magnitude. They are therefore responsible for ensuring the firm appropriately monitors the risk.
- Undertaking – The most appropriate senior individual(s) within a firm attest to complete actions within a specified timescale, however they are not required to confirm to us that they have been completed.
- Self-certification – The most appropriate senior individual(s) within a firm attest to undertake the completion of actions within a specified timescale. They are also required to confirm that they have been completed.
- Verification – The most appropriate senior individual(s) within a firm attest to undertake the completion of actions within a specified timescale. They are then required to provide verification that the risks identified have been mitigated and resolved.
Quarterly information
We publish information on how often we request attestations on a quarterly basis.
Table 1: Number of attestations by sector and conduct classification for Q4 2023/24 (January - March 2024)
| Sector |
Dedicated supervision firms |
Portfolio supervision firms |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Retail banking |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Wholesale Financial Markets |
1 |
5 |
6 |
|
Investment management |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
General insurance and protection |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Pensions and retirement income |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Retail lending |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Retail investments |
1 |
13 |
14 |
|
Total: |
3 |
19 |
22 |
Table 2: Number of attestations by quarter and conduct classification for the most recent four quarters
| Quarter |
Dedicated supervision firms |
Portfolio supervision firms |
Total: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q4 2023/24 | 3 | 19 | 22 |
| Q3 2023/24 | 0 | 24 | 24 |
| Q2 2023/24 | 3 | 8 | 11 |
| Q1 2023/24 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
|
Total: |
6 |
57 |
63 |
Notes to the tables:
- The numbers are correct as of 31 March 2024.
- The quarters are split according to financial year (i.e. Q1 starts 1 April).
- GIPP attestations[1] are not included in these results.