The Bank of England and His Majesty's Treasury are undertaking a review of the statutory powers used to gather sterling money market information. This review aims to ensure the Bank's data collection capabilities remain sufficient to maintain strong coverage and visibility of Sterling Money Market activity as markets evolve.
Separately, the Bank is reviewing feedback from its summer consultation on extending RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours towards a near 24-hour, seven-day mode. The Bank intends to provide an update to the industry in the first quarter of 2027, outlining themes from consultation responses and next steps.
The SONIA Stakeholder Advisory Group discussed potential impacts of longer settlement hours on SONIA's definition, publication time, reporting, and operational processes. The group indicated a strong preference to preserve the current SONIA publication time of 09:00, noting that a later publication could affect the processing and fulfilment of products referencing SONIA.
In the unsecured overnight market, daily volumes have remained stable at around £55 billion, with the spread to Bank rate fluctuating close to 1.9 basis points. Money-market funds have seen collective inflows of approximately £15 billion since the start of the year.