The Bank of England is changing the way it collects data. The existing OSCA platform is set to become BEEDS. Here's what you need to know about the changes.
At the end of 2020, Bank of England (BoE) announced changes to the way firms complete and submit regulatory and statistical reporting data, migrating away from the existing OSCA (Online Statistical Collection Application) system to the new BEEDS (Bank of England Electronic Data Submission) platform.
BoE explain that BEEDS is an “online application that manages formal regulatory and statistical data submissions between PRA-authorised firms and the Bank of England. The portal enables firms to complete and submit all data submissions online. Firms can also view the information held about them by the Bank of England and keep it up to date.”
The move poses a technical challenge for firms, as the reporting format will also change from XML to XBRL. There won’t be an option to upload data manually into BEEDS; returns must be uploaded in XBRL format. However, there are no changes to the reporting requirements or the data firms are required to submit.
Because of the significant changes taking place, migration to BEEDS will happen gradually over two phases, with the platform expected to go live in January 2022. The first OSCA to BEEDS UAT window is scheduled from 15 – 26 November 2021, with members of the Invoke team taking part. The first onboarding phase, which was initially planned for December 2021, has been postponed until March 2022.
In September, BoE published the final version 1.2.0 of the Bank of England Statistics taxonomy to support the move from XML to XBRL. Details are available in this release note.
The BEEDS system will be updated annually, and ongoing changes will be made in response to user needs. All firms will need to be using the BEEDS platform by September 2022, when OSCA will be switched off. So, there isn’t much time for firms to familiarise themselves with the changes and prepare.
To answer the questions many firms have about the change, BoE has held a number of working group sessions together with recognised software houses to support organisations in the change. Invoke has been part of BoE’s working group sessions to address and anticipate the challenges firms might face during the migration and beyond. BoE has also published a Q&A to give impacted firms answers to some of the most commonly asked questions. You can find more information and BEEDs user guide here.
For more information please contact us on contact-london@invoke-software.com.
