The Bank of England raises capital threshold for midsize banks and relaxes requirements for relief debt.

The Bank of England confirmed on Tuesday the signal it had previously issued to relax capital requirements for medium-sized banks, as part of a series of broader reforms aimed at promoting the development of the UK financial industry. The Bank of England has raised the minimum threshold for banks to issue expensive debt known as own funds and eligible liabilities, so that banks can resolve crises internally in the event of a collapse, rather than requiring taxpayer rescue as in the 2008 financial crisis. The Bank of England has set the threshold at 250 billion to 400 billion, higher than the previous 150 billion to 250 billion.