The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a consultation paper (CP26/39) on proposals for sharing income among data contributors to a UK equity consolidated tape (CT), as well as enhanced operational incident reporting requirements for all CT providers (CTPs).

In its July policy statement (which was combined with a consultation on draft rules about the inclusion of systematic internaliser quotes in the equity CT, and a call for input seeking views on key contractual requirements for the equity CTP) (CP26/31), the FCA required the equity CTP to share a portion of its income with data contributors.

The FCA confirms that implementation of the income sharing arrangements will involve two key stages. First, the FCA will determine the share of income to be paid to data contributors through its five-year concession agreement with the CTP, with its requirements expected to be confirmed in early 2027 following the call for input in Chapter 11 of CP26/31. Second, the FCA will establish Handbook rules and guidance on how that share will be allocated among data contributors, which is the focus of this consultation. Under the proposed income distribution model, the FCA proposes that:

• all UK trading venues and approved publication arrangements would be eligible to receive income based on the relative value of the trades they submit to the equity CT
• half of the shared income would be reserved for central limit order book or periodic auction trading systems, which will provide pre-trade data to the CT, to incentivise the submission of high-quality pre-trade data
• trades executed on smaller trading venues would carry a greater weighting, as the costs of providing data may be more acutely felt by these venues.

While bond and equity CTPs are already subject to operational incident reporting requirements under SYSC 15A and MAR 9, the FCA also proposes to extend the requirements in SUP 15.18 to all CTPs, ensuring that significant operational incidents are reported to the FCA in a timely and consistent manner. This would align CTPs with the standards applicable to other providers of key market infrastructure, including UK recognised investment exchanges. These proposals build on PS26/2, which sets out the rules in relation to the regulators' final policy on operational incident and third-party reporting which come into force on 18 March 2027.

The deadline for comments is 17 December with the policy statement expected in spring 2027.

For readers tracking the consultation on draft rules about the inclusion of systematic internaliser quotes in the equity CT and the call for input on key contractual requirements for the equity CTP, the FCA intends to publish the respective policy statement and feedback statement in early 2027.

The FCA intends for the CTP to start operating in 2027 or early 2028.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA) have published their respective final reports setting out their technical advice to the European Commission (EC) on proposed amendments to certain key performance indicators (KPIs) under the Taxonomy Disclosures Delegated Act. This follows the EC's March call for technical advice to support its review of the taxonomy reporting framework. The review forms part of the EC's broader omnibus simplification agenda and aims to reduce reporting burdens while maintaining meaningful sustainability disclosures for investors.

ESMA's report recommends narrowing the mandatory operational expenditure (OpEx) KPI to non-capitalised research and development expenditure. It also proposes simpler group reporting, including the removal of the weighted-average KPI, and targeted measures to make disclosures more proportionate, clearer and easier to use.

The EBA's report focuses on five areas, namely:

• removing the fees and commissions KPI and the trading book KPI from the taxonomy disclosure requirements
• simplifying the investment firms' 'other services' KPI, including services related to capital markets
• aligning the grandfathering provisions with the EU Green Bond Regulation, limited to bonds issued under that Regulation
• not including the OpEx KPI disclosed by non-financial undertakings in the calculation of financial undertakings' KPIs
• simplifying group disclosures by using the parent undertaking's KPIs and, where relevant and subject to defined conditions, complementing them with KPIs for material secondary activities, without further aggregation.

The EBA also recommends targeted improvements to the broader disclosure framework. These include simplifying and harmonising the templates for credit institutions' asset management activities, asset managers' activities and investment firms' activities, and simplifying and clarifying the Green Asset Ratio templates for credit institutions. The EBA's report is accompanied by a letter from its chair addressed to the EC.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published findings from its supervisory work on how consumer finance firms assess, evidence and monitor fair value under the consumer duty’s price and value outcome. The publication is accompanied by a blogpost. The FCA found positive examples of firms taking structured and proportionate approaches to assessing fair value but also identified recurring areas for improvement where some firms:

• did not fully account for fees and charges when assessing the expected total price customers might pay
• did not clearly explain how their fair value conclusions were supported by the evidence available or how the price paid by customers compared with the benefits they could reasonably expect to receive
• relied heavily on assumptions, narrative statements or management information that lacked sufficient detail or supporting evidence
• gave limited consideration to non-financial costs (such as consumers’ time and effort), how value might change over time or outcomes for different customer groups, including customers with characteristics of vulnerability
• did not communicate fees and charges clearly, prominently or at the right time to support informed customer decision-making
• did not adequately monitor repeat or cumulative charges or assess their impact on customer outcomes
• could not demonstrate that their controls were appropriately designed, operating effectively or reducing the risk of causing foreseeable harm, particularly for customers experiencing financial difficulty.

Firms are advised to consider the FCA's findings and assess how they may inform their approach to meeting their consumer duty obligations. The FCA will continue to monitor this area and where it identifies significant risks of consumer harm, it will take appropriate action.

The Central Counterparties (Equivalence) (Indonesia and the People's Republic of China) Regulations 2026 have been laid before Parliament and published, accompanied by an explanatory memorandum. Under Article 25(1) of the UK European Market Infrastructure Regulation, a central counterparty (CCP) must be recognised by the Bank of England (BoE) in order to provide clearing services to UK clearing members or trading venues. The BoE may recognise a third-country CCP only where HM Treasury has determined that the legal and supervisory arrangements of the relevant third country are equivalent to those of the UK. These Regulations determine that the regulatory and supervisory regimes for specified CCPs authorised by their respective regulatory authorities are equivalent to the UK regime. The Regulations will enter into force on 19 November.

The Bank of England (BoE) has published a consultation paper seeking views on draft supervisory expectations for central counterparties (CCPs) that wish to accept tokenised versions of collateral eligible under the proposed CCP Rulebook.

The BoE also seeks views on industry interest on a wider range of tokenised asset types, should any become eligible for acceptance as collateral in the future. The expectations are not intended to create a separate regulatory regime for tokenised collateral but instead aim to provide greater clarity on what the BoE would expect CCPs to consider when submitting applications to accept such collateral through the existing supervisory process for the assessment of new forms of collateral.

The BoE's initial view is that the existing regulatory framework does not prevent CCPs from accepting tokenised forms of eligible collateral. However, it notes from industry engagement that additional clarity may help CCPs interpret and apply the requirements. The BoE encourages firms actively considering acceptance of tokenised collateral for central clearing to engage with it on potential proposals. The deadline for responses is 12 February 2027.

HM Treasury has published a letter from John Healy, chancellor of the exchequer, to Andrew Bailey, Bank of England governor, setting out the updated remit and recommendations for the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) for 2026. Mr Healy welcomes the FPC's conclusions to date from its review of bank capital requirements, including proposed reforms to the leverage framework (which the FPC confirmed will go ahead) and the usability and releasability of capital buffers. He looks forward to the FPC delivering these reforms as quickly as possible and expects the next stage of the review to deliver further proposals, particularly to address overlaps identified in capital requirements relating to domestic exposures.

Mr Healy also welcomes the FPC's decision to give firms flexibility to provide more high loan-to-income (LTI) mortgages, and states that the FPC should target improving access to home ownership without prejudicing financial stability, including by considering how the LTI framework can better support this.

Other key recommendations cover strengthening resilience in the non-bank financial sector and core sterling markets, assessing global and geopolitical risks, monitoring cyber and operational risks, including those arising from AI and critical third parties, and continuing to consider climate-related financial risks.

The draft Securitisation (Amendment and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2026 (draft Regulations) have been laid before Parliament and published. The draft Regulations amend the Securitisation Regulations 2024 (Securitisation Regulations) and the Financial Services Act 2012 (Relevant Functions in relation to Complaints Scheme) Order 2014. They remove the regime for securitisation repositories and simplify the statutory framework for investor due diligence.

Key changes include:

• Provisions relating to securitisation repositories are removed from the Securitisation Regulations, with Part 5 removed in full. Going forward, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) will determine the reporting and disclosure requirements through their own rules.
• The draft Regulations amend the due diligence requirements for occupational pension scheme investors in securitisations so that they will become subject to the FCA rules that apply to institutional investors.
• Changes in relation to the FCA and PRA rule-making powers, including: (i) the omission of the requirement for the FCA and the PRA to make general rules relating to due diligence requirements of relevant institutional investors; and (ii) the amendment of the mandatory requirement for the FCA to make due diligence rules for small registered UK alternative investment fund managers to a discretionary power.

Subject to Parliamentary approval, most provisions will come into force on 1 January 2027. The remaining provisions (which include provisions relating to the removal of the UK securitisation repositories regime) will come into force on 25 May 2027.

For additional background, please see the consultations on phase 2 of the reforms to the UK securitisation framework.

The Bank of England (BoE) and UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have published a report with the results of their fourth survey on AI and machine learning in UK financial services. The regulators state that the findings should be read as evidence from participating firms rather than a complete assessment of the UK financial sector.

The survey found that AI adoption has continued to increase, with 86% of respondents now using AI and generative AI accounting for 56% of reported AI systems. AI agents are also widely deployed, although most agents were found to operate with limited autonomy. Third-party AI systems have become more prevalent and material, with information security and operational resilience concerns the most prominent reported constraints on their adoption.

More broadly, operational efficiency, automation and productivity were the highest-rated areas of perceived benefit from AI, while data protection and security, third-party and supply chain risk, and generative AI-specific risks were the highest-rated areas of perceived risk. On regulatory constraints, 42% of respondents considered UK data protection and privacy to pose a high compliance burden, and 29% said the same of international regulation.

On governance and accountability, most respondents reported having formal AI governance arrangements, although oversight of third-party AI systems was the most commonly reported area of governance uncertainty or implementation challenge. The survey also considered frontier AI and cyber risk. Most firms expected frontier AI cyber capabilities to become material to their risk profiles, with 88% of respondents assessing evolving frontier AI cyber capabilities as having a moderate or high impact on their firm's risk profile over the next two years.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has updated its webpage to announce that the Upper Tribunal has extended the hearing of the legal challenges to its motor finance redress scheme. The hearing, originally listed for 16 to 26 February 2027, will now run from 16 February to 3 March 2027. This follows the FCA’s earlier announcement in October, which also included guidance for lenders.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published findings from a multi-firm review of how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the defence sector experience banking services. The publication is accompanied by a blogpost.

The FCA found that there is no regulatory barrier preventing banks from supporting lawful defence businesses. Even so, some defence SMEs have found the process of opening a bank account unnecessarily long and complex. The evidence points to friction and delay, rather than widespread exclusion. The FCA expects firms to take prompt action, including to:

• ensure that decisions to reject applications from defence SMEs are made on reasonable, properly considered grounds and demonstrate that they are proportionate, risk-based and consistently applied
• complete compliance checks efficiently and, where additional checks are necessary, keep applicants informed of progress and likely decision timescales (where legally permissible and appropriate)
• adopt approaches to offering and servicing accounts that reflect the specific circumstances and risks associated with individual defence businesses, and avoid blanket restrictions where a more tailored approach is possible
• ensure that reputational and environmental, social and governance-related considerations are clearly defined, consistently applied and supported by appropriate governance, noting that there are no sustainability rules preventing firms from serving defence customers
• consider whether they can identify and monitor defence SME customers with enough accuracy, including across wider supply chains and dual-use activity to understand how defence SME customers are being treated.

The FCA has written to firms that provide banking services to SMEs to share these findings and its expectations. It will monitor firms' responses through its supervision and will intervene where necessary. Firms should treat the report as a "point in time" publication, which the FCA will consider retired by December 2028.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published Handbook Notice No.145 outlining amendments to its Handbook made by the following statutory instruments:

• UK Listing Rules (Sustainability Reporting Standards Disclosure) Instrument 2026, which comes into force on 1 January 2027. This makes changes to replace the existing climate reporting rules for listed issuers with requirements aligned with the UK endorsed International Sustainability Standards Board standards.
• UK CRR References (Amendment) Instrument 2026, which comes into force on 1 January 2027. This makes consequential amendments to FCA Handbook and Glossary references to the UK Capital Requirements Regulation in anticipation of the revocation of the remaining provisions of that Regulation.
• Fund Reporting for Asset Management Entities Instrument 2026, which comes into force on 1 February 2027, except for the amendment to COLL 2.1.4D in relation to authorised fund applications to align the direction with the wording used in the relevant forms (in Annex B of the Instrument), which comes into force on 2 November. These changes form part of the FCA's wider move towards online submissions and support the new Fund Reporting for Asset Management Entities reporting framework (FRAME) being consulted on under CP26/26.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a consultation paper (CP26/38) consulting on changes to its Financial Crime Guide to reflect recent supervisory findings and developments in financial crime risks. The FCA proposes updates to areas covering: (i) fraud, including authorised push payment fraud and money mules; (ii) cryptoassets, ahead of the new regulatory regime coming into full effect on 25 October 2027; (iii) financial and trade sanctions; (iv) proliferation financing; (v) data security, including to address emerging risks associated with AI, synthetic identity fraud and digital assets; (vi) financial crime systems and controls; (vii) money laundering and terrorist financing; and (viii) other consequential changes.

The proposed updates are intended to clarify and update existing guidance rather than introduce new requirements and include refreshed self-assessment questions and examples of good and poor practice. The deadline for responses is 24 December, after which the FCA intends to publish its feedback and the final amended guide in a policy statement. On future plans, the FCA is exploring more flexible ways to provide financial crime guidance, focused on emerging risks and priority areas. This could include question-and-answer sessions and standalone guidance without prior consultation where it is not required. The guidance would then be consolidated within the Financial Crime Guide at a future date.

The Council of the EU has published its first reading position (dated 21 October) with a view to the adoption of the proposed revised Payment Services Directive (PSD3) and the new Payment Services Regulation (PSR), collectively known as "the Payment Services Package". The legislative package aims to modernise the EU's regulatory framework for payment services, building on the foundations of the current framework under Directive (EU) 2015/2366 (known as PSD2) to enhance consumer protection, strengthen fraud prevention and improve the functioning of open banking. It also seeks to address the pending challenges in the context of the impact and application of PSD2 in the internal market and adapt it to align with new market developments.

The Council's position follows the final compromise texts published in April, which reflected the provisional political agreement reached with the European Parliament (EP) in November 2025. The EP must now approve the Council's position at second reading. In its draft statement of reasons, also dated 21 October, the Council notes that the chair of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs indicated that she would recommend that Parliament accept the position, subject to legal-linguistic verification, provided it reflects the agreed overall provisional agreement.

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1763 has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ). The Delegated Regulation amends the regulatory technical standards (RTS) under the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) to implement changes introduced by the MiFIR Review (as implemented by Regulation (EU) 2024/791) and to support the establishment of the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives consolidated tape.

In particular, the Delegated Regulation: (i) amends the RTS on transparency requirements for derivatives under Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/583 (RTS 2); (ii) amends the RTS on package orders to align them with the revised transparency framework under Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/2194; and (iii) establishes the input and output data requirements for the OTC derivatives consolidated tape under Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1155.

The published texts do not materially differ from the drafts adopted by the European Commission (EC) in July, except that they incorporate the amended applicable execution/publication venues for the matched principal trading flag and the negotiated transaction flags, as set out in the Corrigendum to RTS 2 published by the EC in September. The Delegated Regulation enters into force on 12 November, 20 days after its publication in the OJ, while the main substantive provisions on derivatives transparency will apply from 1 March 2027.

The publication of the Delegated Regulation also means that those elements of the European Securities and Markets Authority manual on pre-trade and post-trade transparency under MiFID II/MiFIR which are dependent on the Delegated Regulation, and so are currently to be considered as draft guidance, can be treated as final from 12 November.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that restrictions have been placed on six unregulated lenders, known as Annex 1 firms, following concerns about their anti-money laundering policies, controls and procedures identified while assessing their applications. The restrictions limit the firms' ability to take on new customers or conduct new business with existing customers, including extending credit, and certain firms' restrictions require an independent review of their anti-money laundering framework.

The action forms part of the FCA's enhanced oversight of Annex 1 firms, which are required to register with the FCA for supervision under the Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs) but are not otherwise authorised or subject to wider FCA regulation. The FCA reminds firms that registration under the MLRs is not a substitute for regulated firms carrying out their own appropriate due diligence to understand the firm's business, in accordance with legislative requirements. This includes seeking direct confirmation from the firm of its registration status, conducting independent checks of the information it provides, and understanding and managing any risks.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published the findings of its multi-firm review of how private market firms identify, manage, mitigate and disclose conflicts of interest. While the review focused on private equity, private credit and real estate firms, many of the observations may also be relevant to firms operating in other areas.

The FCA found that many firms demonstrated effective governance, strong conflict identification processes and a clear focus on investor outcomes. However, standards varied considerably. The FCA highlighted recurring weaknesses in the following areas:

• Cross-fund transfers and continuation transactions: weaker firms relied more heavily on existing governance, disclosure or investor consent. There was limited evidence of how they had assessed and balanced competing investor interests.
• Gifts and entertainment: some firms relied on policy thresholds and generic approvals, and there was limited evidence that firms were effectively identifying and managing conflicts or inducement risks.
• Information barriers: some firms relied more heavily on training, judgement and informal safeguards, with limited monitoring to demonstrate that confidential information was being effectively contained.

The FCA expects firms to consider its findings to identify gaps in their approaches. Firms should assess whether their conflicts frameworks, governance and controls remain proportionate to the nature, scale and complexity of their activities, and consider whether conflicts can be reduced or avoided through business model and structure design. The FCA also states that firms should treat conflicts management as "a dynamic capability" that develops alongside the business, rather than a "static compliance framework". The FCA will carry out targeted follow-up work where appropriate.

The Over the Counter Derivatives (Intragroup Transactions) Regulations 2026 have been laid before Parliament and published, alongside an explanatory memorandum. The Regulations, made on 21 October, aim to replace the temporary intragroup exemption regime, which expires on 31 December, with a permanent framework for intragroup exemptions from clearing and margin requirements under the UK European Market Infrastructure Regulation. The draft version of the Regulations was published in July. For more detail on the provisions, please see our blogpost titled “Draft Over the Counter Derivatives (Intragroup Transactions) Regulations 2026 published”. The Regulations will come into force when the revocation of the existing transitional provisions as set out in Part 5 of the Over the Counter Derivatives, Central Counterparties and Trade Repositories (Amendment, etc., and Transitional Provision) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 comes into force.

The Overseas Prudential Requirements Regime (Credit Institutions and Investment Firms) Regulations 2026 have been published, accompanied by an explanatory memorandum. The Regulations support the transition to the FSMA 2000 model of regulation, under which detailed prudential requirements are set by the UK Prudential Regulation Authority within a framework established by government and Parliament. This transition entails the revocation of provisions of the UK Capital Requirements Regulation (UK CRR) and restatements, as needed, in UK legislation to facilitate the FSMA model, with UK CRR provisions replaced with regulator rules, supervisory statements and statements of policy.

The Regulations restate existing UK CRR equivalence provisions in legislation to create a single overseas prudential requirements regime (OPRR), preserving the overall scope and effect of the current equivalence regimes and also preserving existing equivalence decisions by treating them as if they were designations under the new OPRR.

The draft version of the Regulations was laid before Parliament in July. We cover the OPRR in more detail in our blog post titled “UK PRA final rule changes for overseas prudential requirements regime”. The Regulations will enter into force on 1 January 2027.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a user guide on delegating access for submitting fund authorisation applications following its recent announcement that fund authorisation applications and notifications will gradually move from an email-based system to fully digital forms submitted online. From 2 November, the FCA will start asking firms to submit certain applications and notifications online via FCA Connect, with the transition taking place in phases. The FCA states that it is introducing the changes over a two-year period to reflect the scale of the programme and the number of fund authorisation forms affected. The user guide provides instructions on how firm users can delegate the appropriate access to submit fund authorisation applications and notifications using Connect. It covers applications for authorising new schemes in the UK, requests for approval to change or wind-up an existing authorised fund and notifications of an approved change that has been made to a fund (Form FN).

The Building Societies Act 1986 (Assimilation to Company Law and Changes to Funding Limit) Order 2026 has been published, alongside an explanatory memorandum. The Order amends the Building Societies Act 1986 (BSA 1986) to align the provisions on common seals and the execution of documents by building societies with the equivalent regime under the Companies Act 2006. Building societies will therefore be able to choose whether to execute documents using a common seal or through authorised signatories, bringing them into line with the more flexible arrangements available to companies.

In addition, under section 7 of the BSA 1986, subject to specific exemptions, at least 50% of a building society's liabilities must be shares owned by individuals (known as "the funding limit"). The Order makes provisions to exclude certain sources of funding for the purposes of calculating the funding limit.

The draft version was laid before Parliament in July. More detail on the provisions can be found in our blogpost titled “Draft Building Societies Act 1986 (Assimilation to Company Law and Changes to Funding Limit) Order 2026 published”. The Order will come into force on 1 January 2027.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published consultation paper CP26/36, consulting on amendments to its Perimeter Guidance Manual (PERG) within the FCA Handbook to reflect recent legislative changes to the UK's cryptoasset regulatory perimeter. The FCA previously published its final perimeter guidance in PS26/18 in September, to help firms understand the scope of the new regulated cryptoasset activities and when authorisation and permissions may be required. The day before PS26/18 was published, the government made further amendments to the regime through a second statutory instrument (SI), the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2026, which introduces further exclusions from certain of the regulated cryptoasset activities. For more detail, you may wish to read our blog post titled "UK lays draft SI amending the 2026 Cryptoasset Regulations".

The FCA is now consulting on changes to its existing PERG 18 guidance to reflect the amendments in the second SI. The proposed changes explain the FCA's view of how the amendments in the second SI apply, and how the new exclusions interact with the regulated cryptoasset activities. In addition, the FCA also proposes to add guidance to PERG 18 on the extent to which decentralisation can affect perimeter analysis. The existing PERG 18 guidance and the proposed amendments in this consultation are intended to be read together. The FCA also proposes consequential amendments to PERG 8, its financial promotion guidance, reflecting amendments to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 made by the second SI.

The deadline for responses is 18 November. The FCA expects to publish its final guidance in spring 2027, ahead of the new cryptoasset regulatory regime's go-live date on 25 October 2027.

The FCA also published an updated webpage in which it acknowledges that the timing of the publication of the second SI may have created uncertainty for a small number of firms around the need to be authorised. The FCA explains that where a firm can demonstrate that the uncertainty relating to the technical services provider exclusion has materially impacted its ability to submit a complete application during the application period, the FCA will exercise some forbearance. Under these circumstances, provided a firm submits an otherwise complete application during the application period, the FCA will allow the firm additional time to address any incomplete aspects of its application relating to the arranging permission. Impacted firms are encouraged to engage with the FCA through its pre-application support service.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) have published consultation papers (FCA CP26/37 and PRA CP14/26) setting out the second phase of their reforms to the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR). The proposals build on the Phase 1 reforms confirmed in April and seek to make the regime more proportionate and easier to operate while maintaining individual accountability and standards of conduct. They also anticipate changes under the Financial Services and Markets Bill 2026 (FSM Bill), which will remove many prescriptive SMCR requirements from legislation and make the regulators responsible for deciding how these requirements should apply in their rules. The regulators are consulting now alongside the FSM Bill so they can make any changes to the rules as soon as possible after royal assent.

Both regulators have sought to align proposals as far as possible to reduce complexity for dual-regulated firms. The proposed reforms would significantly streamline the Senior Managers Regime, including reducing the number of senior management functions (SMFs) requiring approvals and introducing an SMF notification process instead; simplifying the application process; extending the temporary SMF cover rule from 12 to 18 weeks; removing some senior manager prescribed responsibilities; and reducing the frequency of submission of statements of responsibilities and management responsibilities maps. The FCA is also proposing to reduce the number of firms subject to the enhanced regime by raising the relevant threshold.

The regulators also propose removing the Certification Regime and instead relying on other rules to achieve similar outcomes. Under the PRA proposals, this includes removing requirements to assess the fitness and propriety of individuals within scope of its Certification Regime, both on appointment and annually. In addition, the FCA is proposing to retire its directory of certified persons and remove the requirement for firms to provide information on directory persons, simplify conduct rules training and raise the thresholds for reporting conduct rule breaches.

The deadline for responses to both consultations is 22 January 2027. The regulators expect to publish a final policy statement in H1 2027, with a view to implementing the changes around six months later in H2 2027.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has announced it has updated its Q&As on: (i) market structure under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II; (ii) the Market Abuse Regulation; and (iii) the Short Selling Regulation. This is part of ESMA's Simplification and Burden Reduction initiative. ESMA has withdrawn or amended several Q&As that are outdated, duplicative or no longer relevant due to legislative changes reflected in established market practices or because they are covered in other ESMA guidance, such as supervisory briefings and opinions. The changes are intended to reduce unnecessary complexity and ensure that ESMA's Q&As remain relevant, proportionate and consistent with the current legislative framework. ESMA encourages stakeholders to consider the updated Q&As alongside its other guidance when interpreting the applicable rules.

The UK Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has published its policy statement PS26/2, confirming its decision to remove the expiry date from its Specific Direction 17 (SD17). SD17 requires most payment service providers (PSPs) to provide the confirmation of payee (CoP) service, which helps to prevent misdirected payments and reduce certain types of authorised push payment fraud by checking whether the name on a payee's account matches the details provided by the payer. SD17 was due to expire on 1 November but will now remain in force unless varied or revoked. This addresses the potential risk that CoP coverage could weaken over time as PSPs may stop using it and new PSPs might not adopt it.

The PSR will review the requirement to provide CoP in five years' time, or sooner if significant developments affecting CoP or the wider payments landscape warrant it. It will also consider the case for expanding CoP requirements to a wider group of PSPs, to include those that currently provide CoP voluntarily. The PSR will engage with these firms to test the potential impacts identified through the July consultation, including incremental governance, compliance and legal costs, before deciding whether to consult on any future proposal. The scope of SD17 therefore remains unchanged at this stage. The PSR published the updated version of SD17 (SD17a) together with a tracked changes version, alongside its policy statement. 

The Council of the EU and the European Parliament (EP) have announced that they have reached provisional political agreement on the European Commission's securitisation package, which was first published in June 2025. The measures aim to revive and simplify the EU securitisation market. The Council of the EU explains that the updated framework will enable banks to free up more capital than is currently the case and channel increased lending to households, small and medium-sized enterprises, and infrastructure projects. It will also reduce administrative burdens for market participants. The securitisation package forms part of the EU's savings and investments union.

The agreed amendments to the original proposals include re-calibrating capital requirements on a risk-sensitive basis for banks investing in securitisations; introducing a new 'resilient' category of securitisations and strengthening the simple, transparent and standardised (STS) label; reducing administrative burdens and strengthening EU-level supervision, including for the independent entities that verify STS compliance; and supporting greater institutional investment and cross-border participation.

The relevant legal texts must now be finalised and formally endorsed by both the Council of the EU and the EP.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a guidance consultation (GC26/7) on decentralised finance (DeFi). The FCA is consulting on non-Handbook guidance to help firms understand how existing operational resilience and financial crime requirements may apply when they provide financial services using, or interacting with, DeFi. The proposed guidance is primarily intended for FCA-authorised firms that use or interact with DeFi as part of their regulated activities, including firms carrying on future regulated cryptoasset activities. The proposed guidance provides observations on the current risk landscape and illustrative examples of measures firms may wish to consider when designing or enhancing their systems and controls. It explains how firms should assess and manage DeFi risks in the context of the FCA's operational resilience framework under SYSC 15A, including through mapping, scenario testing, communication strategies and third-party arrangements. It also addresses financial crime risks and how firms should consider relevant obligations under SYSC 6 and the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, including in relation to risk assessments, systems and controls, customer due diligence, ongoing monitoring, suspicious activity reporting and the Travel Rule.

The FCA emphasises that the guidance does not create new regulatory requirements and that firms remain responsible for complying with existing legal and regulatory requirements when using or interacting with DeFi. Where they cannot do so adequately, firms are reminded that they should consider whether the activity is appropriate for their business and clients. The deadline for responses is 18 November, with the final guidance expected in Q1 2027.

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2343 has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ). The Delegated Regulation amends the regulatory technical standards (RTS) on the clearing thresholds and the mechanisms that trigger their review set out in Delegated Regulation (EU) No 149/2013, to reflect changes introduced by the revised European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR 3). The Delegated Regulation was adopted in July and was based on the European Securities and Markets Authority's final report published in February. There are no substantive changes made to the Delegated Regulation since its adoption. These changes are important for derivatives counterparties as the clearing thresholds determine an entity's counterparty classification under EMIR and, therefore, which EMIR obligations apply to it (for example, uncleared margin). The Delegated Regulation will enter into force on 10 November, 20 days following publication in the OJ, upon which date the new rules relating to the EU clearing thresholds will be effective. However, this will not necessarily mean that EU counterparty classifications need to be re-calculated (and, if they are different, change) with effect from 10 November, as counterparties have flexibility on whether to re-calculate their EMIR status immediately or wait until their usual annual calculation date.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a final report containing draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) specifying the circumstances in which transactions resulting from post-trade risk reduction (PTRR) services will be exempt from the clearing obligation under the revised European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR 3). The draft RTS: (i) specify the requirements regarding PTRR services and their resulting transactions which are eligible for the clearing obligation exemption, including compression, portfolio rebalancing and basis risk optimisation; (ii) set out the common conditions on market risk neutrality and risk reduction; (iii) further define the obligations that PTRR service providers should meet; and (iv) detail the requirements on transparency, algorithms, execution, controls, record-keeping and monitoring of the exemption. ESMA states the aim is to facilitate the use of PTRR services and ensure that the exemption is used under the conditions laid down in EMIR 3 and does not lead to the misuse of the clearing obligation.

As feedback to the February consultation was broadly supportive, ESMA has made only limited adjustments to the final draft RTS. The final draft RTS were submitted to the European Commission (EC) on 9 October for endorsement. The EC has three months to decide whether to endorse the proposed RTS.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a new webpage setting out examples of good practice and areas for improvement to support the safe and responsible adoption of AI in financial services. The examples are drawn from industry engagement and are illustrative and non-exhaustive, which will evolve as practice develops. They are relevant to a variety of AI use cases, such as those using machine learning, generative or agentic AI. They do not create new requirements, prescribe a single model or replace firms' responsibility for deciding what is appropriate and proportionate for their own AI use cases, risks and potential impact. While the FCA identified positive practices, it also identified key areas for improvement, including:

• Consumer duty and consumers in vulnerable circumstances: the FCA found that some firms built AI tools without establishing the consumer problem, target market or foreseeable harms. Some used guardrails that addressed one risk but created another. Some excluded consumers in vulnerable circumstances by default without providing another way for them to get support. The FCA reminds firms that they remain responsible for consumer outcomes where they deploy AI-supported tools and refers firms to its consumer duty guidance (FG22/5) and guidance on the fair treatment of vulnerable consumers (FG21/1).
• Governance and accountability: to govern effectively, firms need to have proportionate oversight, clear accountability and risk-based controls across the AI lifecycle. The FCA found that some firms had informal approval processes or generic governance arrangements, with control functions not involved enough. Some firms took a retrospective approach, designing and deploying AI use cases before considering how to govern them. Others had unclear responsibility for AI systems. Monitoring was sometimes narrow, reactive or static, and oversight functions sometimes lacked AI-specific capability. Further issues included poor documentation and delegating responsibility entirely to technical teams without sufficient understanding or effective challenge. The FCA states that firms remain responsible for the AI systems they develop, procure and deploy, including their outputs and outcomes.
• Operational resilience: the FCA found that some firms did not appropriately consider their use of AI, or their dependence on AI models, in their operational resilience plans. Others relied on vendors' assurances without challenging or testing them. Some relied too heavily on hard-to-replace AI providers and were dependent on a single platform without exit options. The FCA reminds firms that while they can outsource AI services, they remain responsible for them.

On the same date, the FCA also published a speech delivered by Jessica Rasu, chief data, information and intelligence officer at the FCA, on building the future of finance in the age of AI.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a final report containing final draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) amending Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 153/2013 to reflect changes specified under the revised European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR 3). EMIR 3 amended Article 46 of EMIR to permanently broaden both the type of eligible guarantees and the scope of who may use them. The final draft RTS specify the conditions under which public guarantees, public bank guarantees and commercial bank guarantees may be accepted as collateral, including appropriate concentration limits, credit quality requirements and stringent wrong-way risk requirements for public bank guarantees and commercial bank guarantees.

In addition, while EMIR 3 does not amend Article 47 of EMIR on investment policy, ESMA is also proposing targeted changes to the central counterparty (CCP) investment policy set out under Delegated Regulation (EU) No 153/2013. The targeted changes concern: (i) the conditions under which debt instruments can be considered highly liquid, bearing minimal credit and market risk and hence can be considered as eligible financial instruments for the purpose of CCP investment policy; and (ii) the highly secured arrangements in which financial instruments posted as margins or as default fund contributions can be deposited. The RTS were consulted on in February. ESMA will submit the final report and draft RTS to the European Commission, which has three months to decide whether to adopt them. Following their adoption, the RTS are then subject to non-objection by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) has published final amendments to the global systemically important bank (G-SIB) framework aimed at addressing "window-dressing" behaviour, as well as a consultation on the G-SIB assessment methodology. "Window dressing" seeks to temporarily reduce banks' perceived systemic footprint around the reference dates used for the reporting and public disclosure of G-SIB scores. The BCBS views window dressing by banks as unacceptable.

The final amendments will require banks participating in the G-SIB assessment exercise to report and disclose all stock G-SIB indicators using average values over the reporting year rather than year-end values. The revised standard will be implemented by 1 January 2030 to give banks time to prepare. The BCBS has also agreed to increase the G-SIB reporting and disclosure threshold from EUR200 billion to EUR350 billion in leverage ratio exposure measure, to be implemented from 2027.

Separately, as part of its periodic review of the G-SIB assessment methodology, the BCBS has also launched a consultation on whether to incorporate the treatment of cross-border exposures within the European Banking Union in the G-SIB framework. The deadline for responses to the consultation is 14 January 2027.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a feedback statement (FS26/3) to its discussion paper (DP25/3) on how its rules and regulatory framework could better support consumers investing without an adviser and setting out its next steps. The discussion paper was part of a set of publications forming the "landmark package to boost UK investment culture". The FCA has confirmed in its feedback statement that it does not intend to take forward every potential reform at once. Instead, it will prioritise the areas where further work can make the greatest difference to consumer outcomes, while giving firms and the market time to prepare for change. The FCA's next steps include:

• reviewing its financial promotions rules for high-risk investments and working with stakeholders to assess the harm caused by any current inconsistencies, including those highlighted in the feedback statement. The FCA still considers, despite some feedback that peer-to-peer investments should fall in the restricted mass market investment category
• consulting on its rules and guidance on risk warnings in financial promotions for mainstream investments in H1 2027, supported by consumer testing
• reviewing how the appropriateness assessment works in practice, including the impact of the current model and the merits of alternatives. The FCA plans to engage with stakeholders in early 2027
• engaging with HM Treasury on the need for legislative change to address concerns about the number of consumers being inappropriately opted out of protections.

Separately, the FCA has already begun a multi-firm review of how firms manufacturing model portfolio services are achieving good outcomes for consumers and expects to publish its findings by Q1 2027. The FCA also reminds firms that the consumer composite investments regime will come into full force on 8 June 2027 and it plans to publish final rules on simplifying consumer investment disclosures by the end of the year.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published updated and streamlined guidelines on the delay in the disclosure of inside information under the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR). Under MAR, issuers are required to disclose to the public as soon as possible directly relevant inside information, to ensure that investors are informed and to prevent insider dealing. In specific circumstances, issuers may delay public disclosure to avoid prejudicing their legitimate interests. These guidelines help issuers in their decision to delay disclosure by providing a non-exhaustive list of legitimate interests that could justify such delay.

Following its February consultation, ESMA has identified five additional legitimate interests that may justify delayed disclosure, including:

• where the issuer is requested not to disclose information by a public authority
• where the issuer needs to collect additional information to enable a correct assessment of inside information by market participants
• where the issuer may risk the loss of a business opportunity following the disclosure of sensitive commercial information
• where the appointment of a member of the issuer's governing body or a manager holding a key position could be jeopardised
• where the disclosure of inside information concerning companies within the same group could cause a direct prejudice to the issuer and undermine the effectiveness of the delay applied by another company within the group.

ESMA has also removed the legitimate interests for delayed disclosure relating to protracted processes, to reflect the fact that since June, issuers are no longer required to immediately disclose inside information relating to these processes before their completion. The revised guidelines will apply from the date they are published on ESMA’s website in all official EU languages.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its final report on revised guidelines on standardised procedures and messaging protocols between investment firms and their professional clients under the Central Securities Depositories Regulation (CSDR). The revised guidelines follow the May consultation and update ESMA's 2019 guidelines to align them with the amended regulatory technical standards (RTS) on settlement discipline. Under the new regulatory environment, investment firms need to receive their professional clients' settlement details earlier than previously required. The amendments are designed to enhance settlement efficiency and support a smooth transition to T+1. The guidelines clarify the key elements necessary to achieve the new regulatory objective, including: (i) the compulsory use of electronic standardised communication methods; and (ii) the adoption of international open communication procedures and standards for messaging and reference data.

Only a subset of the original guidelines has been amended. The revised guidelines will be published on ESMA's website once they have been translated into all official EU languages. They will apply from 7 December, alongside the relevant provisions of the RTS on settlement discipline. They will also replace the 2019 guidelines from this date. Tracked and clean versions of the revised guidelines are available in Annexes III and IV of the final report.

The UK Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has published a consultation paper on proposals to simplify the regulatory framework for access to payment systems. The PSR proposes to introduce a single access regime, while broadly maintaining existing access requirements. The proposals form part of the planned abolition of the PSR and aim to remove overlap and fragmentation across various regulatory requirements governing payment system access. The consultation assumes that HM Treasury will proceed with its plans to repeal the payment system access regime in the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (PSRs 2017) and that the PSR's functions, including its payment access powers, will be substantively transferred to the UK Financial Conduct Authority.

Specifically, the PSR proposes to:

• revise General Direction 2 (GD2), so that it becomes the primary regulatory measure to ensure access requirements are 'always on' and which will largely consolidate the requirements currently spread across the PSRs 2017 and GDs 2 and GD3, insofar as they apply to regulated payment systems. The revised GD2 would introduce a single test for direct and indirect access, while preserving the existing principles underpinning access. It would also extend the existing requirement to publish access requirements to all operators of payment systems designated under the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013
• revoke GD3 through the revised GD2, as GD3 would no longer be required once regulation 103 of the PSRs 2017 is revoked
• update the PSR's guidance on access requirements while maintaining its substance (subject to minor amendments).

The proposed revised GD2 and guidance are available on the PSR's webpage. The deadline for responses is 10 December. When determining next steps, the PSR will account for potential legislative changes, including under the Financial Services and Markets Bill and the potential revocation of regulations 103 and 104 of the PSRs 2017.

The Bank of England (BoE) has published a consultation paper setting out proposals for updated rules that would permit central counterparties (CCPs) to accept uncollateralised letters of credit (LOCs) as collateral. The consultation also covers the risk mitigants that CCPs would have to implement if they chose to accept this type of collateral. The proposals relate to initial margin only, and the BoE does not expect CCPs to accept LOCs as variation margin. Any CCPs wishing to accept LOCs would need to apply for the BoE's permission in the usual way; the BoE is not proposing a separate permission regime for LOCs.

The proposed changes would be implemented in the Collateral Part of the UK CCP Rulebook (currently still in draft). Key proposals include:

• References to "commercial bank guarantees" would be replaced with "commercial bank letters of credit", which is the terminology generally used by market participants.
• Currently, CCPs can only accept commercial bank guarantees from non-financial counterparties (NFCs) that are clearing members. The consultation proposes allowing CCPs to accept LOCs from NFCs that clear as clients, for example through a "pass-through" model.
• The requirement for LOCs to be fully collateralised would be removed.
• Current draft rule 5.1(2) would be amended so that acceptable LOCs would need to be issued by authorised UK credit institutions or authorised overseas credit institutions.
• CCPs would be required to monitor each issuer's creditworthiness on an ongoing basis.
• The single-issuer limit would fall from 10% to 5% of the CCP's total collateral.
• Current draft rule 10.4(2) allows CCPs to increase the current 10% single-issuer limit to 25%, where commercial bank guarantees constitute over 50% of the CCP's total collateral. This rule would be deleted.
• CCPs would also have to run validation checks with the issuer before accepting an LOC.
• To qualify as highly liquid collateral, an LOC that names both the CCP and the clearing member (posting on behalf of the client) as beneficiaries would need to require the CCP's consent before the clearing member could redeem it.

The Bank also expects CCPs to factor LOCs into their stress testing, including scenarios where the LOC issuers to which they have the largest exposures fail.

The deadline for responses is 15 January 2027. The BoE proposes to publish the final rules in the first half of 2027, with no implementation period. The rules would come into force no earlier than the date on which the UK CCP Rulebook takes effect. The BoE considers that an implementation period is not necessary as the proposals only impose new requirements on CCPs that choose to accept LOCs as collateral.

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published its final report on sound practices for responsible adoption of AI, following its consultation in June. The report identifies 12 sound practices to help financial institutions harness the benefits of AI while managing its risks responsibly, in ways that support the resilience of the financial system. The principles are structured around three core areas: (i) organisation-wide AI governance (practices 1–4); (ii) risk management and mitigation across the lifecycle of AI development and deployment (practices 5–10); and (iii) management of AI-related cyber, information and communication technology, and third-party risks (practices 11–12).

The sound practices serve as a practical toolkit that financial institutions can tailor to their specific context and risk profile and integrate into existing frameworks, including those for cyber and third-party risk. The report includes case studies illustrating the benefits reported by financial institutions and how some sound practices have been applied proportionately.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published an updated manual on transparency under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II and Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation. The updated manual provides further guidance on identifying over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives subject to transparency requirements and clarifies how identifying reference data for OTC derivatives should be provided for transparency purposes, with a view to supporting consistency in data reported to and published through the consolidated tape. It also incorporates published Q&As and new recommendations on the application of the tick-size regime, including circumstances in which trading venues and national competent authorities may intervene. ESMA notes that the new guidance on upcoming changes with regard to OTC identifying reference data should be considered draft as the relevant amending Regulation has not yet entered into force.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its findings from a May survey assessing firms' actions in response to its November 2025 multi-firm review of contract for difference (CFD) providers' compliance with the consumer duty price and value outcome. Most firms had made or planned changes, but many of the changes were relatively minor and did not make a material difference. The FCA expressed disappointment at the pace of progress and highlighted the following key concerns:

• Fair value assessments: firms should not treat these merely as a tick-box exercise and should focus more on consumer outcomes and potential harm.
• Communications: firms do not explain their costs prominently enough in the client journey, often including them only in terms and conditions or key information documents (KIDs). Overnight charges are not always shown as a projected annual percentage. Firms should consider if they could produce better consumer outcomes with earlier and more prominent signposting to information about pricing and overall fair value.
• Overnight funding charges: the level of these charges and the way firms apply them may not be consistent with price and value obligations under the duty. Some firms' charges seem high in the context of prevailing base rates and peer comparisons.

The FCA strongly recommends that firms review the good practice and areas of concern and consider whether they should change anything to meet their price and fair value obligations. It expects firms to be able to show that they have reviewed their charges and will follow up with them individually where it has concerns.

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published a report (the second stage of a three-stage project) on the G20 implementation monitoring review (IMR) following the October 2025 interim review. The report assesses the extent to which the FSB's policy design process facilitates effective implementation of agreed policies. Examining international reforms developed by the FSB after the 2008 global financial crisis, the report finds that differences in national legal frameworks, market structures and political capacity are the main reason for uneven implementation. However, it also notes that some implementation challenges stem from the policy development process itself, suggesting that targeted and proportionate reforms to that process is one element which could help improve implementation outcomes. The IMR's findings and recommendations on the FSB's processes are set out in section 3 of the report.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published Market Watch 86, setting out its observations from supervisory visits to UK retail brokerage firms on the systems, controls and governance arrangements they use to identify and report potential market abuse. All of these firms used automated surveillance systems, but the FCA found material weaknesses in how their arrangements had been designed, implemented and operated in practice. Key findings include: 

• Too high a threshold for reasonable suspicion: several firms set the bar of reasonable suspicion too high. The FCA reminds firms that they do not need proof of market abuse before they submit a suspicious transaction and order report.
• Poorly tailored alert calibration: several firms had not properly calibrated their alert models in line with the nature of their client base, the financial instruments traded, and relevant market abuse risks.
• Insufficient understanding of surveillance systems: some firms appeared to rely on system settings provided by third-party vendors, which increased the risk that weaknesses in surveillance arrangements would not be identified or challenged. Calibration testing was also often limited.
• Weak governance and oversight: some senior managers had limited understanding of key surveillance activities. In some firms where surveillance responsibilities were split across different functions, no single individual had oversight of end-to-end activities. The FCA also found examples of firms with limited or no formal quality assurance process.
• Market abuse risk assessments lacking granularity: some firms had not considered all relevant characteristics of their business model; for example, they did not differentiate between institutional and retail clients. Others wrongly assumed that having an alert in place was evidence of an effective control capable of mitigating risk.

All firms are advised by the FCA to consider these findings and check whether changes to their surveillance arrangements are required. The FCA will continue to monitor this area.

The UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have published policy statement PS19/26 / PS26/20 confirming changes to the loan-to-income (LTI) flow limit rule for mortgage lending. The regulators are removing the firm-level 15% cap on high-LTI lending. This is in line with the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) recommendation made in 2025 that the regulators amend implementation of the FPC LTI flow limit to allow lenders flexibility to set their own high-LTI strategies in line with their risk appetite and business models, while aiming to ensure the aggregate flow remained at a level consistent with the FPC-recommended 15% limit.

Key points from the final policy include:

• Following consultation feedback, individual firms' high-LTI flows and any adjustments required, will be measured on a rolling four-quarter basis. As consulted on, the aggregate flow will be monitored on a single-calendar-quarter basis to judge consistency with the FPC limit.
• The PRA will publish the aggregate high-LTI flow on its website each quarter. The FCA will publish information on its website when it expects adjustments. Following consultation feedback, the regulators have decided that alongside this, they will publish additional information to provide lenders with more visibility of trends in the mortgage market.
• The regulators' expectations on governance and risk management for high-LTI lending are set out in a new PRA supervisory statement (SS2/26) and new FCA non-Handbook guidance (FG26/11), which replaces the existing guidance. Both will take effect on 28 October.

The regulators also received responses regarding the calibration of the FPC's definition of high LTI (an LTI ratio of 4.5x) and the 15% aggregate flow limit. The regulators treated these points as outside the scope of the consultation. They have passed them to the FPC to consider in its next review of housing policies.

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published a consultation report on proposed regulatory and supervisory modernisation principles. The report states that many financial authorities in FSB member jurisdictions have reviewed their regulatory and supervisory frameworks to ensure they support sustainable economic growth and remain adaptable to current and future material risks, without compromising financial stability or safety and soundness. The FSB proposes eight principles to promote alignment across these reviews. The principles are subject to the following four important understandings: (i) financial stability provides the foundation for sustainable economic growth, which in turn supports financial stability; (ii) the principles build on the commitment to implement internationally agreed standards; (iii) implementation of the principles must be consistent with jurisdictions' legal frameworks and circumstances; and (iv) the principles aim to preserve or enhance existing levels of financial system resilience. The deadline for responses is 8 January 2027. The FSB intends to publish the final report in the first half of 2027.

The BIS Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) have published a joint final report on financial market infrastructures' (FMIs) management of general business risks and general business losses. The report follows the November 2025 consultation and takes into account findings from the Level 3 assessment report on the implementation of PFMI Principle 15 (general business risk), which identified issues with FMIs' management of general business risks and the liquid net assets funded by equity held to cover potential losses. It sets out supplemental guidance to the PFMI for FMIs and relevant authorities, including in relation to the FMIs' recovery and orderly wind-down, specifically on:

• identifying, monitoring and managing general business risks
• determining the minimum amount of liquid net assets funded by equity to be held against potential general business losses
• governance and transparency in managing general business risks.

The guidance in the final report should be taken into account by FMIs and relevant authorities when developing their approach to meeting the PFMI.

Two Regulations supplementing the Central Securities Depositories Regulation No 909/2014 (CSDR) have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ). The Regulations make amendments to the CSDR framework to reflect reforms introduced by the CSDR Refit Regulation (EU) 2023/2845:

• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1519 amending the regulatory technical standards (RTS) laid down in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/392 regarding the information that central securities depositories (CSDs) must provide to competent authorities as part of the review and evaluation process under Article 22(1) of the CSDR.
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1512 amending the implementing technical standards laid down in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/394 as regards standard forms, templates and procedures for the purposes of the information provided by CSDs for the review and evaluation process of central securities depositories.

Separately, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1536 was also published in the OJ on the same date. It amends the RTS laid down in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/1229 on settlement discipline to introduce measures aimed at improving settlement efficiency in the EU and supporting the transition from a T+2 to a T+1 settlement cycle on 11 October 2027.

All the Regulations will enter into force on 3 November, being the 20th day following publication in the OJ. The RTS on settlement discipline will generally apply from 7 December, except for certain specified provisions which will apply from 11 October 2027. The RTS on the review and evaluation process will apply from 3 November 2027.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a statement confirming that the Upper Tribunal will hear legal challenges to its motor finance redress scheme from 16 to 26 February 2027. While the scheme remains partially suspended pending the outcome of the litigation (meaning firms are not currently required to calculate or pay compensation), the FCA reiterates that lenders must continue to prepare for the scheme and progress complaints as far as possible. The statement provides advice for both lenders and consumers.

The FCA advises that lenders must continue to comply with the rules that remain in force, including by sending letters to consumers who are not owed compensation under the scheme. Lenders should also plan for a range of potential outcomes, including the possibility that, if the scheme or parts of it are quashed, there may be no motor finance redress scheme and no complaint handling pause. In that scenario, lenders would need to be operationally and financially ready to resolve complaints through the usual complaint-handling process and within the usual statutory timescales. The FCA expects lenders to plan rigorously for this possibility, make the necessary financial provisions and engage with their auditors. Firms that have questions are requested to contact the FCA.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) has published an assessment report on the UK's implementation of its leverage ratio framework, as part of its Regulatory Consistency Assessment Programme (RCAP). The BCBS also published reports on Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea and Switzerland. All jurisdictions were assessed as compliant except Canada and the UK, which were assessed as "largely compliant", one notch below the highest overall grade.

For the UK, two of the four components of the Basel leverage ratio standard were assessed as compliant, namely: (i) definitions and application, and calculation; and (ii) disclosure requirements.

The exposure measurement component was assessed as "partially non-compliant", which the report states was driven by one material finding: the Basel standards permit the temporary exemption of central bank reserves from the leverage ratio exposure measure, whereas the UK's exemption extends to certain other non-reserve claims on central banks. Other deviations relating to the exposure measure were assessed as not material.

For the buffer requirements and transitional arrangements for the global systemically important banks (G-SIBs) component, this was assessed as "largely compliant", which the report states reflects two potentially material findings: (i) the UK leverage buffer design can be less conservative than the Basel G-SIB leverage buffer in certain situations; and (ii) the absence of automatic capital distribution restrictions when the leverage ratio buffer is not met, with the UK framework relying instead on supervisory intervention. The BCBS Assessment Team also noted that, in several areas, the UK rules go beyond the minimum Basel requirements (as set out in Annex 5 to the report). In accordance with the RCAP Handbook, these stricter rules were not considered as mitigants in the overall or component-level assessments of compliance.

The report also includes the UK Prudential Regulation Authority's response to the assessment, including its justification for those components of the UK framework as highlighted by the BCBS.

The Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF) has published a call for input on its workplan for 2027/28. The DRCF seeks views to refresh its understanding of where businesses and other stakeholders encounter overlap between regulatory regimes, or face uncertainty because of the potential interplay between regimes. It also welcomes views on other topics on which the DRCF could coordinate joint work between its member regulators, whether to ensure cohesion, build their capabilities or for other objectives. The deadline for comments is 11:59pm on 20 November.

The Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) (comprising the European Banking Authority, European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and European Securities and Markets Authority) has published its annual work programme for 2027, setting out priorities for addressing cross-sectoral risks and enhancing supervisory coordination across the EU financial sector. The programme identifies digital operational resilience, technological innovation, sustainable finance, securitisation and cross-sectoral risk monitoring as key focus areas.

The Joint Committee states that it will continue its work under the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), including oversight of activities relating to critical ICT third-party service providers and work towards strengthening the financial sector's preparedness against cyber threats. It will also assess emerging technologies such as AI. Consumer protection remains a core priority, alongside efforts to support the consistent application of the EU sustainability framework. The programme also highlights the Joint Committee's role in promoting coordinated supervisory responses to cross-sectoral challenges and supporting the European Commission's objectives for the Savings and Investment Union and under its simplification agenda.

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published a note on global stablecoin arrangements, summarising its ongoing work on cross-border vulnerabilities and financial stability monitoring. It builds on the FSB's 2023 high-level recommendations for the regulation, supervision and oversight of global stablecoin arrangements and its 2025 thematic peer review of their implementation. The note highlights that the cross-border reach and use of global stablecoins, which span across multiple entities and authorities, may limit the ability of any single jurisdiction to fully assess or address potential vulnerabilities on its own.

The FSB identifies three areas, relating to the implementation of its 2023 recommendations, that may warrant continued consideration: (i) enhancing monitoring of cross-border vulnerabilities, supported by the indicators mentioned in the note and the FSB's work on stablecoin data availability and limitations; (ii) fostering cross-border cooperation and information-sharing to support implementation of the 2023 recommendations; and (iii) gathering information on emerging approaches to planning for distress or failure of global stablecoin arrangements, with a focus on cross-border issues.

The note also states that to strengthen stablecoin monitoring, members and relevant authorities could consider developing a set of metrics for financial stability monitoring and identifying data gaps, making better use of existing data, and exploring possible industry best practices for data collection and compilation on- and off-chain to improve quality and comparability over time. The note is accompanied by a letter from the FSB’s Chair, Andrew Bailey, addressed to G20 finance ministers and central bank governors, highlighting risks to the global financial system.