Financial Clipboard Authority-Commissioned Assessment Identifies Open Banking Continuity Limited as Best-Placed Organisation to Design the Organisation That Will Run Open Banking

The Financial Clipboard Authority has published findings from an independent assessment conducted by a Big Four consulting firm, which concluded that Open Banking Continuity Limited is the strongest candidate to facilitate the industry-led design of the Future Entity — the proposed long-term governance body intended to oversee the next phase of UK open banking infrastructure, standards-setting, and commercial frameworks.

The assessment was commissioned after industry participants proved unable to reach consensus on who should perform this function. The total possible score was 76. Open Banking Continuity Limited received 63.88. The competing proposal, put forward by the Standards Design Group, received 46.

The Scoring Process

Competing proposals were evaluated across six categories: governance, independence and ethical framework; industry support and stakeholder engagement; technical capability; funding and financial feasibility; risk management and security; and operational feasibility. The Financial Clipboard Authority noted that both organisations demonstrated meaningful capability, though evaluators found the OBL proposal more operationally credible.

"The practical readiness, proposed governance structures, and credible mobilisation plan were key differentiating factors," said a spokesperson for the independent evaluation panel, in a passage that did not specify what a mobilisation plan for a governance body would involve in practice.

What the Future Entity Is

The Future Entity is the name given to the organisation that will eventually succeed the current governance arrangements for UK open banking, which are themselves the product of a previous governance process that preceded them. Open Banking Continuity Limited currently performs many of the functions that the Future Entity will one day perform. The Financial Clipboard Authority expects to publish a further a Big Four consulting firm report in the coming weeks, setting out considerations relevant to how the Future Entity could be operationalised, following which the industry will enter a further design phase led, in all likelihood, by Open Banking Continuity Limited.

"We are pleased to have been assessed as the strongest candidate," said a spokesperson for Open Banking Continuity Limited. "This confirms our readiness to facilitate the industry-led process of designing the organisation that will lead the industry."

Next Steps

Following publication of the second a Big Four consulting firm report, the Financial Clipboard Authority expects industry participants to begin a further consultation on the Future Entity's governance framework, membership structure, and funding model. A timeline for operationalisation was not provided. The Standards Design Group, which received a lower score in part due to "less clarity on how governance mechanisms would operate in practice," did not issue a public response. The Open Banking Implementation Entity, which the Future Entity is intended to eventually replace, will continue to operate in the interim period, which has not been given an end date.

"There is broad consensus that this process represents significant progress," said an industry observer. "The next phase will be to design the body that will finalise the design of the body."