Bank of England Weighs Outsourcing Data Collection for Private‑Markets Stress Test

Regulators in London are considering enlisting an outside data vendor to gather information from private-market participants so a high-priority stress exercise can be delivered on schedule. The planned simulation aims to model how a serious but credible global downturn would affect large pools of non-publicly traded assets that have grown rapidly in recent years. Officials pushing the work want timely, comparable inputs from private credit and equity managers, a task complicated by diversity of structures, valuation practices and reporting cadence. Using a contractor could speed collection and harmonization, but it introduces new challenges around commercial sensitivity, privacy and the independence of the analysis. The root concern driving the effort is the increasing financial interplay between less-regulated asset managers and banks that take deposits, which could transmit stress across the system. Completing the programme on an accelerated timeline would likely force choices about which asset classes and exposures are in scope and what proxy assumptions regulators will accept. Market participants will watch vendor selection closely because it may set de facto data standards for an opaque segment of finance. For private firms, greater transparency could mean higher compliance costs and tighter scrutiny of leverage and liquidity profiles; for lenders, it may reveal concentrations that invite capital or lending-policy responses. Outsourcing also creates operational risks for the central bank: reliance on third parties for sensitive information demands ironclad security, clear governance and contingency plans for data integrity. The initiative signals a shift toward proactive oversight of non-bank channels of credit, and it could catalyse follow-up regulatory measures if stress scenarios expose vulnerabilities. Ultimately, the test’s design, the quality of gathered inputs and the manner of public disclosure will shape whether it strengthens system resilience or imposes unintended frictions on a rapidly evolving market.