(Sharecast News) - UK regulators have told HSBC to review how it reports on credit risk, according to a report.

Britain's biggest bank has been ordered to commission a section 166 review, which usually requires an outside consultant to analyse the accuracy of regulatory reporting, Bloomberg reported. The review typically leads to a report recommending changes at the bank that are often costly.

An HSBC spokeswoman declined to comment and the Bank of England's supervisory arm, the Prudential Regulation Authority, said it did not comment on individual lenders, Bloomberg said.

The PRA told lenders in January it was expanding its use of section 166 reviews after raising concerns with bank bosses. "Multiple firms did not treat the preparation of their regulatory returns with the same care and diligence that they apply to financial reporting shared with the market and counterparties," PRA officials David Bailey and Rebecca Jackson wrote to chief executives in September.