The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published final policy statement PS26/16, on changes to its rules on information sharing during UK equity initial public offerings (IPOs). Following feedback to the April consultation, the FCA found that some of the 2018 reforms had not succeeded in encouraging the production of unconnected research and had instead created additional costs and administrative burdens for issuers, potentially placing the UK at a competitive disadvantage relative to other listing venues.

The FCA has finalised the proposals as consulted on, including amending its Conduct of Business sourcebook (COBs) to: (i) remove the mandatory seven day waiting period between the publication of an approved registration document or prospectus and connected research; and (ii) repeal the related requirements mandating that syndicate banks intending to publish connected IPO research share the same information with a range of unconnected analysts, as they do with their own research analysts. The changes take effect immediately, while noting that firms and issuers remain free to engage with unconnected analysts on a voluntary and commercial basis.

The FCA also implements a technical correction to COBS 12.2.21R to address an inconsistency resulting from earlier changes made to the FCA rules when the UK MiFID Organisational Regulation (on shored Regulation 2017/565) was revoked and its requirements transferred into FCA rules.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has launched a consultation on a new reporting framework to support the validation and ongoing monitoring of the ISDA Standard Initial Margin Model (SIMM). This follows the EBA's assumption of responsibility as the central validator of pro forma initial margin models under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) from 1 March. To support this role, the EBA proposes a standardised set of regular reporting requirements for counterparties seeking validation to use ISDA SIMM. The information submitted would enable the EBA to validate and monitor model performance on an ongoing basis and calculate annual validation fees. The framework is designed to be proportionate, with entities that do not have significant over-the-counter trading activity required to provide only a limited subset of information on an annual basis.

The deadline for responses is 2 November. Subject to feedback, the EBA intends to adopt a decision establishing the reporting framework by the end of the year, with the first reporting reference date expected to be December 2027 and the first data collection taking place in the first quarter of 2028. The new requirements will be incorporated into version 4.4 (Phase 2) of the EBA technical package, which is expected to be finalised in March 2027. The EBA will collect the information directly from reporting entities, with operational arrangements to be communicated at a later stage. The proposed templates and instructions can be found in the press release.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a new webpage on climate adaptation and resilience, highlighting the growing impact of physical climate risks on regulated firms. The FCA notes that these risks require financial services firms to consider both climate adaptation, namely taking action to prepare for the effects of climate change, and resilience, meaning the ability to anticipate, respond to and recover from those effects. The FCA has a direct interest in how firms and markets adapt to these risks as they can impact: (i) consumer protection, where consumers' ability to access and afford products on fair terms and at fair value may be impacted; (ii) market integrity, where markets may struggle to price risk accurately; and (iii) competition, where access to financial services may become uneven. The FCA encourages firms to consider how acute and chronic climate risks may affect their operations, risk management and service delivery. It also sets out ways in which firms can engage with the FCA and access support.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published a no-action letter on the application of the boundary between the trading book and banking book under the Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB) framework. It also published technical clarifications on issues arising from the European Commission's (EC) third Delegated Act modifying the calculation of own funds requirements for market risk under the FRTB.

The Delegated Act, adopted on 4 June, seeks to introduce targeted operational relief measures, and define targeted multipliers, that modify the implementation of the FRTB framework in the EU from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2029, in light of delays of the implementation of that framework in other jurisdictions.

In its no-action letter, the EBA recommends that competent authorities do not prioritise supervisory or enforcement action relating to: (i) the provisions governing the boundary between the banking book and the trading book and internal risk transfers between these books; and (ii) related reporting requirements. This is intended to avoid firms having to operate parallel trading book boundary regimes for different purposes and allow institutions not using the multiplier in the Delegated Act to also base the calculation of their own funds requirements for market risk on the CRR2 boundary framework. The EBA advocates for a legislative proposal from the EC to provide the necessary legal certainty as concerns the application, temporary suspension of application or modification, as applicable, of Articles 104, 104a, 106(2) to (7), 204a and 325j(5) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2029, and to revise the start date for the reporting of information on the composition of the trading book and reclassifications between books based on the FRTB boundary framework, to align with the start date for the application of the FRTB boundary for the purposes of the calculation of the own funds requirements for market risk. The EC's Communication of 17 July confirmed its intention to proceed with a legislative proposal in the first quarter of 2027.

The EBA also sets out technical considerations on material implementation issues for the application of the market risk framework as modified by the Delegated Act which includes, amongst others, eligibility to use the overall multiplier and notifications to national competent authorities for use of the multiplier, application of the overall multiplier of Article 495v in conjunction with the output floor, and reporting and disclosure requirements.

The EBA's no-action letter and technical considerations will become relevant if and once the Delegated Act enters into force.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published policy statement PS26/15, which sets out final reforms to improve the UK transaction reporting regime under the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR). This follows the November consultation and HM Treasury previously confirming that assimilated law (law inherited from the EU at the point of Brexit) in this area will be repealed, enabling the FCA to deliver a more streamlined framework. The FCA has largely finalised the proposals as consulted on, with a few targeted adjustments.

Key changes to the regime include:

• Reducing the number of transaction reporting fields from 65 to 52.
• Removing reporting obligations for seven million financial instruments which are only tradeable on EU trading venues (up from the figure of six million initially consulted on).
• Removing foreign exchange (FX) derivatives from the scope of reporting requirements.
• Reducing the default back reporting period from five to three years.
• Exempting most corporate actions from reporting obligations.
• Requiring trading venues to populate fewer fields in their transaction reports.
• Creating a new framework for conditional single-sided reporting.

The final rules are set out in the Markets in Financial Instruments (Record Keeping, Transaction Reporting and Financial Instrument Reference Data) Instrument 2026, which introduces three new chapters in the FCA's Market Conduct sourcebook. Firms will have until 3 April 2028 to implement the changes. The FCA intends to publish draft schemas, validation rules and updated reporting guidance, which will form part of a new transaction reporting user pack, in October this year and will adopt a flexible supervisory approach during the implementation period. It also plans to consult on transitional provisions and consequential amendments to the FCA Handbook. The FCA states that affected firms should begin planning now by reviewing their reporting logic, assessing the impact of changes to reporting scope and data fields, and preparing for the revised schema, validation rules and guidance.

In addition to the above, chapter 2 of the policy statement sets out the FCA's longer-term ambition to harmonise transaction and post-trade reporting requirements across the UK MiFIR, UK European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) and Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR) regimes.

ESMA's Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group (SMSG) has published an own initiative report on the future of EU financial markets supervision in the context of the ongoing Level 1 discussions on the European Commission's proposed Market Integration and Supervision Package (MISP). The report supports the objective of strengthening EU-level supervision and recognises the case for expanding ESMA's direct supervisory and supervisory convergence powers to address market fragmentation, cross-border activity and regulatory arbitrage. However, it stresses that any reforms should be proportionate, evidence-based and accompanied by a clear allocation of responsibilities between ESMA and national competent authorities to avoid duplication and inefficiencies. The SMSG highlights the importance of maintaining investor protection while supporting the competitiveness, attractiveness and growth of EU capital markets, including through a proposed "Competitiveness and Attractiveness Check", and key performance indicators as part of the accountability process of ESMA's chair. However, the report emphasises that retail investors must remain at the centre of ESMA's strategic priorities and also proposes retail investor impact assessments for ESMA measures so that investor protection considerations are not subordinated in practice to competitiveness arguments.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published consultation paper CP26/30 on equity market transparency and market structure developments, building upon the discussion chapter in CP25/20 on whether reforms would be warranted. Alongside the consultation, the FCA published final rules on the framework for a UK equity consolidated tape and the next steps for its delivery.

In this consultation, the FCA proposes targeted reforms to strengthen post-trade transparency and refine the systematic internaliser (SI) regime, against a backdrop of increasing fragmentation in UK equity trading and the planned introduction of a UK equity consolidated tape. Key proposals include:

• Extending the current exclusion from post-trade transparency for non-price forming over the counter transactions to equivalent transactions reported to trading venues, and clarifying and strengthening the rules on back-reporting.
• Reformulating the reference price waiver to enable trading venues to integrate midpoint dark orders within transparent limit order books.
• Requiring equity SIs to publish quotes showing the price and volume at which they are prepared to buy and sell up to and including standard market size.

While the FCA considers UK equity markets to remain liquid, resilient and effective, it notes the continuing shift away from central limit order books towards alternative execution mechanisms. It therefore proposes a monitoring framework on future market structure developments using both quantitative and qualitative indicators. Chapter 3 sets out potential intervention measures should monitoring indicate challenges to market integrity, and the FCA invites feedback on the avenues that could be pursued. The FCA also proposes guidance on trading venue outage protocols to support market resilience and includes a separate chapter on retail equity trading.

The proposals entail changes to the FCA Glossary, Market Conduct (MAR) and Recognised Investment Exchanges sourcebooks, including transferring provisions from the UK Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (600/2014), UK MiFID RTS 1 and UK MiFID RTS 7 into MAR, and revoking UK MiFID RTS 8 in its entirety. The deadline for responses is 16 October with a final policy statement expected in H1 2027.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published Handbook Notice 143, outlining amendments to its Handbook made through various instruments made at its June and July board meetings including:

• Numerous instruments relating to the UK's upcoming regulatory framework for cryptoassets which come into force on 25 October 2027 and, amongst other things, insert three new sourcebooks into the Handbook, two new chapters in the client assets sourcebook and new sections in the conduct of business sourcebook and supervision manual.
• Definition of Capital for Investment Firms Instrument 2026, which entered into force on 31 July. This instrument makes a minor technical amendment to MIFIDPRU 3.6A.1R to correct an unintended consequence following PS25/14, ensuring that the prohibition on non-cash distributions on own funds instruments operates as originally intended.
• Enforcement (Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024) (Supplementary Amendments) Instrument 2026, which entered into force on 30 July and Enforcement Guide (Amendment) Instrument 2026, which entered into force on 31 July. Following consultation in chapter 9 of CP26/8, these instruments make supplementary amendments to the Glossary, ICOBS, CONC, UNFCOG, ENFG and DEPP sourcebooks to reflect changes in consumer protection legislation, describe the FCA's general approach to the use of its powers under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, and make clarificatory changes to its description of the use of non-FSMA and FSMA powers in the context of market abuse.
• Prospectus Rules: Admission to Trading on a Regulated Market (Clarificatory Amendments) Instrument 2026. This gives proper effect to aspects of the Public Offers and Admissions to Trading regime, which came into force on 19 January.
• Data Reporting Services (Amendment) Instrument 2026 and Technical Standards (Data Reporting Services) Instrument 2026. Following consultation in CP25/31, these instruments amend the Glossary, MAR 9, DEPP and ENFG sourcebooks, and make changes to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/577, to establish the main regulatory obligations of the equity consolidated tape provider (CTP) and key regulatory requirements for the operation of the UK equity consolidated tape. It also establishes obligations for trading venues and approved publication arrangements to provide information to the CTP.

Feedback to the various consultations behind this Handbook Notice is set out in chapter 3 of the notice.

The European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs, comprising the European Banking Authority, the European Securities and Markets Authority and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority) have published a joint final report with draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) amending Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/2251. This Delegated Regulation sets out the margin requirements on risk mitigation techniques for uncleared over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR).

The proposed amendments would extend the existing exemption from initial margin requirements to existing uncleared OTC derivative contracts where one counterparty falls below the EUR 8 billion aggregate average notional amount (AANA) threshold. Under the current framework, counterparties below the threshold are exempt from exchanging initial margin only for new contracts, while existing contracts remain subject to the requirement. Under the proposed RTS, counterparties could cease exchanging initial margins for all uncleared OTC derivative contracts and release existing initial margin as early as 1 June of the relevant year in which the counterparty falls below the threshold.

The amending RTS also remove outdated transitional provisions relating to single-stock options and equity index options, reflecting the permanent exemption of those products from margin requirements introduced under EMIR 3. The final report has been submitted to the European Commission for endorsement and, if adopted, the amending RTS will be subject to scrutiny by the European Parliament and Council before publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has published the results of its 2026 thematic reverse stress test on geopolitical risks which involved 110 directly supervised banks in the euro area. The exercise, which forms part of the ECB's supervisory priorities for 2026-28, aimed to strengthen banks' risk management and stress-testing capabilities in light of heightened geopolitical risks. Banks were required to design severe but plausible geopolitical scenarios that would result in a 300-basis point depletion of their Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio. Unlike traditional stress tests, which apply a common scenario across all firms, the exercise required each bank to develop a scenario tailored to its own risk profile.

The ECB found that most banks were able to produce meaningful reverse stress test simulations. However, it identified several areas for improvement in banks' Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process (ICAAP) and Internal Liquidity Adequacy Assessment Process stress-testing frameworks, including:

• Granularity and scenario sensitivity: ICAAP frameworks need to have an appropriate level of granularity in the risk assessment, and should better capture vulnerable sectors, relevant risk events and emerging risks.
• Importance of multiple scenarios: the exercise confirmed the importance of banks considering a broader range of scenario outcomes when assessing resilience.
• Consistency between scenario narrative and transmission channels: some banks did not adequately link stress scenarios to their most important and geopolitically vulnerable portfolios in the exercise—the ECB emphasises the importance of clearly translating shocks into solvency and liquidity positions, as well as operational resilience.
• Dynamic balance sheet projections: some banks appeared overly optimistic in their assumptions regarding balance sheet expansions in geopolitical stress scenarios.
• Realism of mitigating actions: banks should have well-articulated and prepared but also realistic action plans to mitigate and guard against the effects of negative geopolitical shocks.
• Solvency-liquidity nexus: many frameworks did not adequately capture the relationship between solvency and liquidity stress.

The ECB states that the results will inform ongoing supervisory dialogue and qualitative assessments under the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process and could therefore affect Pillar 2 requirements, but will not result in changes to banks' Pillar 2 guidance (P2G) or the leverage ratio P2G.

The European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs, comprising the European Banking Authority, the European Securities and Markets Authority and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority) have published a joint statement toward a consistent and risk-based approach for information and communication technology (ICT) risks from frontier AI models. The statement builds on the European Commission's action plan on cybersecurity and AI, the ESRB's warning on systemic cyber risks from frontier AI models, and the ECB's letter to significant institutions on AI-related cybersecurity threats.

While noting that existing frameworks, including the Digital Operational Resilience Act and the EU AI Act, provide a strong foundation for managing these risks, the ESAs emphasise that the speed at which vulnerabilities can be identified and exploited requires financial institutions to take a proactive approach. The ESAs encourage firms to strengthen their ICT risk management processes through three key risk mitigation strategies: prevention; detection, moving to continuous vulnerability monitoring; and management.

Examples of risk mitigation strategies and actions are set out in the accompanying annex. The ESAs state that in all cases and without delay, financial entities should establish governance structures that support effective management of frontier AI-related risk, with clear accountability frameworks, timely response plans and sufficient internal investment dedicated to strengthening cyber resilience. Separately, the ESAs as lead overseers have initiated targeted engagement with relevant critical third-party providers to understand how they identify and manage these risks.

The Single Resolution Board (SRB) has published its fourth annual assessment of banks' resolvability across the Banking Union. The report finds continued progress across all resolvability dimensions, with banks strengthening key capabilities in liquidity and funding in resolution, management information systems, data provision, and separability. Having completed the implementation phase of its Expectations for Banks framework, in 2025 the SRB's focus shifted towards the full operationalisation and testing of resolvability capabilities. While most banks are close to meeting expectations, some gaps remain, particularly in areas subject to recently enhanced guidance, such as valuation, separability and communication. The report also highlights improvements to the SRB's assessment methodology to improve the consistency, transparency and comparability of assessments. Looking ahead, the SRB will continue to focus on the capacity to operationalise resolvability capabilities and testing, including through a new multi-annual testing framework for 2026-2028. Priorities for 2026 include the effective implementation of updated operational guidance including on valuation, separability and transferability, and business reorganisation.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published CP26/31, setting out its final policy framework for a UK equity consolidated tape (CT) following its November 2025 consultation. Alongside this paper, the FCA also published a separate consultation on equity market transparency and market structure developments.

Consistent with its proposals, the FCA confirms that the equity CT will include both post-trade data and first-level attributed pre-trade data (i.e. best bid and offer). The FCA considers that including pre-trade data will support a broader range of market uses and deliver greater long-term benefits than a post-trade-only model. Responding to consultation feedback, the FCA has also decided to introduce a high-level requirement for the future consolidated tape provider (CTP) to share a proportion of its revenue with data contributors. The final rules and technical standards are set out in the instruments in Appendix 1–3 of the paper and took effect on 31 July.

Alongside the policy statement, the FCA is consulting on whether systematic internaliser (SI) quotes should be included in the equity CT, with responses due by 16 October. In addition, chapter 11 contains a call for input seeking views on key contractual requirements for the future equity CTP, including the mechanism for implementing revenue-sharing arrangements and the CTP's operating hours. Responses to the call for input are due by 18 September.

While the equity CT is being developed, the FCA also launched, on the same day, a market activity reporter for shares, which provides daily visibility of overall UK equity market activity and trading volumes across the market.

Two Delegated Regulations supplementing the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Ratings Regulation (EU) 2024/3005 on the transparency and integrity of ESG rating activities were published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ).

• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/904 sets out the regulatory technical standards (RTS) with regard to rules of procedure on fines and periodic penalty payments imposed on ESG rating providers by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).
• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/910 sets out the RTS with regard to the fees charged by ESMA to ESG rating providers.

Both Regulations were adopted by the European Commission in April and will enter into force on 19 August, being the 20th day following their publication in the OJ.

The UK Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has published policy statement PS26/1 on two final specific directions in relation to: (i) information, transparency and complexity (ITC); and (ii) pricing governance. The directions are a consequence of the PSR's market review of card schemes and processing fees, which found (as set out in the PSR's final report) there to be weak competitive restraints, rising fees, and insufficient transparency around cost and pricing for acquirers and merchants.

In April 2025, the PSR consulted on potential remedies to address these findings, including proposed remedies in respect of (i) ITC, to ensure that acquirers and merchants have sufficient information to understand fees being charged; and (ii) pricing governance, to impose requirements in relation to pricing decisions including three pricing principles. The final directions confirm that certain changes have been made to the draft directions, which were consulted on in December 2025.

Key changes in relation to the ITC direction are:

• The PSR has increased the materiality threshold for certain requirements relating to new and modified fees from GBP100,000 (net revenues) to GBP250,000 (gross revenues).
• The PSR has refined the requirement to provide information for fee reconciliation (and in particular no longer requires transaction-level identifiers).
• Other minor changes.

Key changes in relation to the pricing governance direction are:

• Refinements to the compliance requirements for clarification, practicality and proportionality.
• Increased materiality threshold to exclude acquirer fee decisions in relation to fees expected to generate less than GBP250,000 of total gross annual fee revenue.
• Other minor changes.

In terms of the implementation timeline, the ITC remedy has an implementation period of 12 months meaning schemes will have to comply from July 2027. The pricing governance direction requires schemes to implement the remedy to ensure fee decisions are compliant from November this year.

The UK Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has published consultation paper CP26/2 on proposed amendments to specific direction 17 (SD17), which underpins broad participation in the confirmation of payee (CoP) service. CoP helps prevent misdirected payments by checking whether the name on a payee's account matches the details provided by the payer. SD17 requires directed payment service providers (PSPs) to have systems capable of both sending and responding to CoP requests. The PSR considers CoP to be an important safeguard against misdirected payments and certain types of authorised push payment fraud. The consultation proposes removing SD17's current expiry date of 1 November 2026 so that the direction remains in force indefinitely. It also seeks views on expanding the scope of SD17 to bring all PSPs currently offering CoP, including those participating voluntarily, within the same regulatory framework. The PSR also published a draft version of the updated direction showing the proposed amendments. The deadline for responses is 20 August.

The Single Resolution Board (SRB) has published updated operational guidance on business reorganisation plan analysis reports (BRP ARs), together with a complementary quantitative template. The updated guidance follows the February consultation, with the SRB also publishing a feedback statement. Institutions are required to prepare and submit a business reorganisation plan within one month following the implementation of the bail-in tool. To support resolution readiness, banks are also expected to prepare a BRP AR during the resolution planning phase.

The guidance sets out the SRB's expectations on the governance arrangements supporting the preparation of business reorganisation plans, the relevant descriptions of the targeted business model post reorganisation, the criteria for identifying valid business reorganisation measures and the approach to follow to demonstrate post-open bank bail-in long-term viability. The SRB states that the documents do not introduce new requirements but instead consolidate existing expectations, address shortcomings identified in previous submissions and reflect lessons learned from industry best practice.

The UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has published policy statement LIAF02/26, finalising a series of amendments to its Rulebook and policy materials that it considers low impact. This follows its April consultation (LIAC01/26).

Following consultation responses on proposals 1 and 3, the PRA is:

• Amending the Groups Part of the PRA Rulebook to clarify that proportional consolidation applies where a participation arises through voting rights, not only share of capital, with related updates to SS15/13 – Groups setting out how firms should determine the proportion to consolidate where voting rights and share of capital differ. Under the PRA Rulebook: CRR firms: Group Instrument 2026, the Annex A rule amendments take effect on 30 July, the Annex B amendments on 1 January 2027, and the SS15/13 from 1 January 2027, although firms may refer to them for guidance in the meantime.
• Amending the Countercyclical Capital Buffer Rates UK Technical Standard to replace cross-references to the Capital Requirements Regulation with references to the PRA Rulebook, including aligning the 'trading book exposures' definition with the Capital Buffers Part of the PRA Rulebook, effective 1 January 2027.

On proposals 2,4 and 5, the PRA has finalised these proposals as consulted on. They cover: (i) consequential amendments to certain PRA rules relating to the Capital Requirements Regulations 2013; (ii) amendment to the frequency of the other systemically important institution (O-SII) designation exercise in statement of policy (SoP)1/16; and (iii) amendments to the definition of firms in scope of the O-SII buffer in SoP1/16 and SoP4/16. For proposal 6, the PRA has made minor amendments to its proposed updates to SoP1/20, which are intended to improve clarity and do not alter the substance of the policy.

The PRA is also making minor corrections without further consultation, including: updating the "netting set" definition in the Glossary Part to correct a cross-reference error, effective 1 January 2027; correcting the General Notification and Regulatory Reporting Parts to confirm that third-country branches are excluded from material third-party notification requirements and that UK branches of overseas banks are included in operational incident reporting requirements, effective 18 March 2027; and correcting the Credit Risk: Standardised Approach and Internal Ratings Based (CRR) Parts and SS10/13, including clarifications to Articles 120(4), 121(2), 121(5) and 151(5) and to the "residential real estate" references in SS10/13, effective 1 January 2027.

The UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has published consultation paper LIAC02/26, proposing a series of low-impact amendments to its Rulebook and policy materials. The proposals include:

• Amendments to Supervisory Statement SS25/15 and the associated IM.03 reporting instructions to remove Lloyd's syndicates from the scope of internal model output reporting. These changes are proposed to take effect on 31 December. The PRA also makes other consequential changes.
• Amendments to the Liquidity (CRR) Part and the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (CRR) Part of the PRA Rulebook, comprising: clarification that firms are responsible for assessing third-country equivalence for non-UK covered bonds to be eligible as level 2A liquid assets; consequential changes following the expected implementation of HM Treasury's Overseas Prudential Requirements Regime (including a related update to SS24/15); and consequential changes following implementation of Basel 3.1 standards and the restatement of CRR requirements, including updated cross-references and treatment of retail and real estate exposures. These changes are proposed to take effect on 1 January 2027.

The deadline for comments is 11 September.

Two Delegated Regulations supplementing the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Ratings Regulation (EU) 2024/3005 on the transparency and integrity of ESG rating activities were published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ).

• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/871 sets out the regulatory technical standards (RTS) specifying the elements of ESG rating products to be disclosed to the public and to users of ESG ratings, rated items and issuers of rated items.
• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/872 sets out the RTS specifying the measures and safeguards to be implemented by ESG rating providers to separate their ESG rating activities from their other activities.

Both Regulations are based on the final draft RTS published by the European Securities and Markets Authority in October 2025. They were subsequently adopted by the European Commission in April. We cover the RTS in more detail here. The Regulations will enter into force on 17 August, being the 20th day following publication in the OJ. However, they have applied from 2 July to align with the date of application of the ESG Ratings Regulation.

The Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1757 was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ). This sets out implementing technical standards (ITS) specifying the supervisory reporting requirements applicable to third-country branches (TCBs) established in the EU under the revised Capital Requirements Directive (CRD VI) framework. The ITS introduce a common reporting framework for competent authorities and distinguish between Class 1 and Class 2 TCBs, with the former subject to more extensive and frequent reporting requirements. The Regulation prescribes reporting templates, reference dates and remittance deadlines covering, among other things, branches' financial and regulatory information, liquidity coverage, capital endowment requirements, intra-group exposures and concentrations, as well as information relating to the branch's head undertaking. The European Banking Authority is required to develop and maintain the associated IT reporting solutions and instructions. The Regulation enters into force on 16 August, being the 20th day following publication in the OJ. It will apply from 28 March 2027, aligning with the commencement of the underlying CRD VI TCB regime.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published findings from its review of firms' approaches to monitoring consumer outcomes under the consumer duty, identifying good and poor practices. The FCA aims to help firms understand what is happening across the customer journey, identify poor outcomes or emerging risks, and take appropriate action.

In relation to strategy and frameworks, the FCA identified several areas for improvement. These included high-level frameworks that do not clearly define good and poor outcomes across key customer journeys or explain the thresholds used to assess them, as well as weak links between operational metrics (such as conversion rates or review completion) and actual customer outcomes. The FCA also found limited evidence of firms assessing whether outcomes differ across customer groups, including customers in vulnerable circumstances.

On data, management information (MI) and testing, some firms relied on a narrow or reactive set of indicators and could not consistently demonstrate how they used MI to anticipate issues, monitor outcomes or assess the impact of changes. Firms often relied heavily on lagging indicators and lacked clear thresholds or forward-looking metrics. Although many firms had set specific thresholds, they did not always explain how these were used to identify good or poor outcomes. The FCA also found that, while some firms identified friction in customer support journeys and agreed remedial actions, certain issues remained unresolved.

In relation to governance, oversight and culture, the FCA found that although firms generally described clear governance structures, practices were not consistent across the firms reviewed. In particular, it was not always evident how governance arrangements operated end-to-end, from identifying issues to testing whether remedial actions had improved outcomes. While boards typically receive regular updates on customer outcomes and are described as central to oversight, it was not clear how this information was used. Similarly, firms were often able to demonstrate that they identified issues and took action but provided less detail on the root causes of those issues or whether the actions taken successfully addressed them.

The FCA states that firms should use these findings to review their own approach to outcomes monitoring and consider whether the information they collect gives them a clear enough view of customer outcomes.

The UK Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has published its consultation response to HM Treasury's (HMT) call for evidence on the independent review into access to banking services. Drawing on its complaints data, the FOS highlighted the continued importance of in-person banking services, particularly for vulnerable customers, those requiring support with complex or sensitive issues, and certain groups that may face barriers to using digital channels. The FOS notes that reduced access to face-to-face banking can create difficulties for consumers who need tailored support, reasonable adjustments, assistance resolving urgent account issues, or protection from fraud and financial abuse.

It also observed that some micro-enterprises and small businesses continue to rely on physical access to bank branches, particularly for cash-related services. While recognising that branch closures may be a legitimate commercial decision, the FOS states that firms are expected to comply with the FCA's requirements when implementing branch and ATM closures. Where the firm has not met its obligations, the FOS would consider whether the firm should compensate the consumer for any distress or inconvenience they have experienced as a result. The FOS will continue to monitor complaint trends and share relevant insights, including where it sees evidence of increased consumer detriment or changes in complaint volumes or themes.

The Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/825 supplementing the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive 2014/65/EU (MiFID II) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ). The Delegated Regulation sets out regulatory technical standards (RTS) specifying the criteria to be taken into account by investment firms when establishing and assessing the effectiveness of their order execution policies. The Delegated Regulation is based on the final draft RTS published by the European Securities and Markets Authority in April 2025. The European Commission subsequently adopted the Delegated Regulation in April of this year. The RTS is covered in more detail in our blog post titled "EC adopts Delegated Regulation setting RTS on order execution policy".

The Delegated Regulation will repeal Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/575, which sets out data to be published by execution venues on the quality of execution of transactions on their venues, and Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/576, which sets out obligations for investment firms to publish information on the identity of execution venues and the quality of execution obtained.

The Delegated Regulation enters into force on 12 August, 20 days after its publication in the OJ, and will apply from 12 February 2028.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published four consultation papers under the revised Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive (EU) 2026/804 (DGSD3), aimed at strengthening depositor protection, preserving financial stability and further harmonising depositor protection standards across the EU.

The four consultation papers include:

• Draft implementing technical standards (ITS) on depositor information, setting out harmonised content and formats for depositor information sheets provided at account opening and on a regular basis. They also establish requirements for communications to depositors in specific situations, such as bank mergers or failures.
• Draft ITS on information exchange, introducing standardised procedures, templates and minimum requirements for information exchange in bank failure scenarios. They also enhance reporting from deposit guarantee schemes (DGSs) to the EBA on covered deposits and available financial means, define information to be reported by authorities on bank failures, and improve transparency on the use of DGS funds.
• Draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) on the treatment of client funds, establishing rules to ensure DGSs receive the data needed to identify and reimburse clients whose funds are held in intermediary accounts, clarifying: (i) when reimbursement should be made directly to clients or via the account holder; and (ii) how to prevent duplicate payouts.
• Draft guidelines on the investment of available financial means, setting out how DGSs should invest their funds to ensure diversification, low risk and sufficient liquidity.

The deadline for comments on all of the four consultation papers is 23 October, with a public hearing scheduled for 24 September.

The Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/849 supplementing the Capital Requirements Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR), as amended by the CRR3, was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ). The Delegated Regulation sets out regulatory technical standards (RTS) specifying what constitutes an equivalent legal mechanism that ensures that a residential property under construction is completed within a reasonable timeframe. It is based on final draft RTS published by the European Banking Authority in August 2025 and was subsequently adopted by the European Commission in April this year. The RTS is covered in more detail in our blog post titled "EC adopts Delegated Regulation on equivalent mechanism for unfinished property under CRR3". The Delegated Regulation enters into force on 12 August, 20 days after its publication in the OJ.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published updated guidance on the unfair contract terms provisions in Part 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA), which protect consumers from unfair contract terms and notices used between businesses and consumers. This follows the consultation in January, which focussed on simplification, presentation, style and readability. The CMA confirmed in its consultation that it would not be substantively revising its interpretation of the law, though it did set out developments in case law. The provisions apply to contracts entered into, and relevant notices issued, on or after 1 October 2015 across the UK. The guidance was published alongside a technical note and an updated webpage reflecting the changes.

The guidance is intended to help businesses comply with unfair contract terms law and assist advisers, enforcers and consumers in understanding which contract terms and notices may be unlawful or unfair. It also states that the CMA will have regard to the guidance when exercising its direct consumer enforcement powers under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, although any assessment of whether a term or notice is unlawful will continue to be made on a case-by-case basis. The accompanying technical note explains the legislative background to the regime and its interaction with other consumer protection legislation, while the updated webpage provides businesses with practical guidance on drafting fair and transparent consumer contracts.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published the findings from its review of financial crime systems and controls across asset management and alternative firms. In 2025/26, the FCA engaged with 242 asset management and alternatives firms to gather firms' own assessments of the financial crime risks they face and to understand their control frameworks. The FCA has summarised its main findings, including examples of good and poor practice. It also reminds firms of the FCA's expectations. The FCA's findings centre on how well firms: (i) understand their inherent financial crime risk; and (ii) identify, mitigate and manage financial crime risk (control risks). The review covered a range of business models, and the FCA notes that not all findings will be applicable to all firms given the diversity of the sector. The review is part of the FCA's wider financial crime supervisory work in support of its 2025–30 strategy and supervisory priorities for the sector.

The FCA found that:

• Inherent risks—some firms were exposed to heightened financial crime risks, especially those firms active in private markets, due to factors such as complex ownership structures, higher-risk customers and international fund flows. The FCA expects firms that face higher financial crime risks to have established frameworks and appropriate controls to mitigate these risks, as referenced in the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 (MLRs) and Senior Management Arrangements, Systems and Controls (SYSC) section of the FCA's Handbook.
• Control risks—most firms showed they understood legal and regulatory requirements through their control framework, but others appeared to underestimate their inherent financial crime risks, resulting in an informal approach to evaluating and managing them. The FCA sets out examples of good and bad practice relating to business-wide risk assessments, customer risk assessments, customer due diligence and enhanced due diligence, ongoing monitoring, screening, governance and training. In some instances, the FCA states that the findings were concerning and will require firms to review their financial crime frameworks to ensure they are adequately identifying, managing and mitigating the risks to which they are exposed.

The FCA encourages firms to consider its findings in the context of their own business model and activities and continue to address any gaps in their financial crime control frameworks. The FCA will continue to monitor firms through its supervisory work to make sure they are considering the points raised in this review to drive improvements.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its fourth annual report of the Wider Implications Framework (WIF) for the 2025/26 period, covering 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, together with the June 2026 meeting minutes. The report summarises coordinated efforts and actions taken by the FCA, Financial Ombudsman Service, Financial Services Compensation Scheme, Money and Pensions Service and The Pensions Regulator to address issues that could have wider implications across the financial services industry. The report highlights joint work conducted on the advice and guidance boundary review, continuing work on motor finance commission and further embedding of the consumer duty.

Looking ahead, the report confirms that the WIF will be streamlined, with annual executive-level meetings setting strategic priorities for the year ahead and greater reliance on working-level engagement, with reporting against executives and chair objectives. WIF directors will consider the report twice a year, with the executives and the chairs maintaining oversight. The WIF CEOs and executives agreed these changes in April, with implementation underway ahead of the new WIF cycle in November. It has provided an updated terms of reference to reflect these changes.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has published a targeted report on the regulatory challenges posed by decentralised finance (DeFi). The report highlights the rapid growth of DeFi and its increasing exploitation by illicit actors, including fraudsters, ransomware operators, professional money laundering networks and proliferation financing actors. The report found that approximately 93% of surveyed reporting jurisdictions have not yet implemented the FATF Standards in relation to qualifying DeFi arrangements and that only two jurisdictions have licensed or registered a DeFi arrangement in practice. FATF reiterates that DeFi arrangements fall within scope of the FATF Standard covering virtual assets—Recommendation 15—where a natural or legal person exercises control or sufficient influence over the arrangement.

The report emphasises that effective implementation of the FATF Standards in the DeFi context requires a functional and risk-based approach. It identifies a list of on-chain and off-chain indicators of control and sets out recommendations to help jurisdictions, as well as financial institutions, virtual asset service providers, and DeFi arrangements aimed at protecting the integrity of the financial system, while also preventing and mitigating the criminal abuse of the DeFi ecosystem. It also includes case studies of good practice. The report emphasises that jurisdictions with more significant DeFi activity should allocate more resources to understanding, supervising and developing approaches to mitigate the illicit finance risks associated with DeFi arrangements.

The EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) has published a final report containing final draft implementing technical standards (ITS) that set out AMLA's cooperation with national financial supervisors to select and directly supervise some of the most significant cross-border financial institutions in the EU. The final draft ITS cover how entities are selected, how supervision passes between national and EU level, and how AMLA and national supervisors will work side by side.

From 2028, AMLA will directly supervise some of the most impactful, cross-border financial institutions at group level. Until now, this supervision has rested with national supervisors. The new ITS will ensure consistent and uninterrupted supervision as responsibility moves between national and EU level.

The final draft ITS set out a clear, step-by-step process for identifying which firms AMLA will supervise: national supervisors gather and quality-check the data, and AMLA carries out the risk assessment and makes the selection, with the results published on its website. When an entity moves to or from AMLA's supervision, the transferring authority hands over the firm's full supervisory history to the receiving authority, preventing disruptions.

The final draft ITS were developed in close cooperation with national supervisors. They are designed for proportionality: entities are asked for detailed data only once they have been identified as eligible. Where supervisors can already establish that a firm does not qualify, it is exempted from reporting altogether. Once adopted by the European Commission, the ITS will apply to the data collection and selection process leading up to the start of direct supervision in 2028.

The House of Lords European Affairs Committee has published a letter sent to the Foreign Secretary confirming that the Committee has commenced its formal parliamentary scrutiny of the UK/EU Gibraltar agreement, which was laid before Parliament on 14 July. The agreement seeks to provide economic and trade certainty for people and businesses in Gibraltar following Brexit. The letter confirms that the Committee has started its formal parliamentary scrutiny under the terms imposed by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, under which the Committee has 21 sitting days to complete its review. The Committee expects to hold a public evidence session with the relevant government minister in September as part of its examination of the agreement.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a follow-up report to its 2022 peer review on the supervision of cross-border activities of investment firms. The original peer review identified shortcomings in the authorisation, supervision and enforcement of these activities across six national competent authorities (NCAs). In response, ESMA issued recommendations to strengthen the cross-border supervisory framework through risk-based, proportionate and effective supervision aligned with the scale, nature and complexity of cross-border activities. This follow-up report assesses the progress made by the NCAs in these jurisdictions in implementing the recommendations.

Overall, the follow-up report shows that the peer review has successfully driven improvements within the EU Single Market. Specifically, the report highlights notable progress in three key areas: (i) stronger authorisation controls, where NCAs have enhanced assessments of firms' cross-border plans; (ii) data-driven and risk-based supervision, where NCAs are increasingly using data to monitor cross-border activities, tailoring supervisory action based on identified risks; and (iii) enhanced cooperation and enforcement, where NCAs have undertaken more targeted supervisory actions, reported enforcement cases where relevant and strengthened cooperation.

While the report acknowledges progress, some risks remain and it encourages NCAs with significant outbound cross-border activities to ensure that their supervisory and enforcement approaches match the scale and complexity of these activities and keep pace with evolving risks. ESMA encourages all NCAs, and in particular those where outgoing cross-border activities are significantly growing, to reflect on the report's conclusions.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a statement highlighting key deadlines and action points for firms to take when preparing for the transition to a T+1 settlement cycle, which takes effect on 11 October 2027. ESMA states that while readiness surveys conducted by the EU T+1 Industry Committee show an overall good and increasing level of awareness and commitment to the transition, implementation levels remain uneven across EU financial markets, sectors and firms.

While the rules have been known since mid-October last year, ESMA proposed amendments to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/1229 to set new requirements, which are particularly relevant for the transition to T+1. ESMA states that firms should consider these in combination with the recommendations of the EU T+1 Industry Committee and accelerate the technical work needed to prepare for the transition to T+1 settlement. The statement also highlights the following key compliance deadlines:

• First deadline: 7 December—for the requirements to improve the first post-trade step, the exchange of allocations and confirmations, in terms of timing and through the default use of international communication standards.
• Final deadline: 11 October 2027—for the requirements to optimise the settlement layer, including sending instructions early enough to securities settlement systems, and the generalisation of certain functionalities in central securities depositories (CSDs), such as auto-partial settlement, hold and release, and auto-collateralisation.

ESMA and the national competent authorities are in the last stages of reviewing the Level 3 guidelines on allocations and confirmations. ESMA considers that the guidelines and the Committee's recommendations will give firms a clear basis for finalising their implementation of electronic, standardised and timely allocation and confirmation processes.

ESMA states that different implementation strategies are possible and firms should undertake thorough analysis and planning, prioritise automation and standardisation, consider new partnerships where relevant, and ensure timely data quality (including correct reference data and standard settlement instructions).

ESMA also reiterates that no-one can be ready in isolation. Firms should assess the readiness of their entire ecosystem, up and down the trading and settlement chain—clients, brokers, custodians, CSD participants, CSDs, central counterparties, trading venues, vendors and outsourcing providers—to enable early testing, identify defects and reduce disruption risk at go-live on 11 October 2027. The regulator warns that insufficient preparedness could trigger significant operational and reputational risks, including flawed interdependencies with financial market infrastructures and IT providers, inability to meet client demands, and higher IT and training costs from last-minute remediation.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has launched a consultation on draft implementing technical standards (ITS) amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/2070 with regard to the benchmarking of internal models and the standardised approach for market risk for the 2027 exercise. Article 78 of the Capital Requirements Directive 2013/36/EU requires competent authorities to conduct annual assessments of the quality of internal approaches used to calculate own funds requirements. To support competent authorities in this assessment, the EBA calculates and distributes benchmark values based on data submitted by institutions as set out in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/2070, which specifies the benchmarking portfolios, templates and definitions to be used as part of the annual benchmarking exercises.

For the 2027 exercise, the EBA proposes to make the following changes:

• Updating the framework for the expanding scope of the market risk benchmarking exercise to institutions applying the CRR3 Alternative Standardised Approach, regardless of whether they use an internal model.
• Resuming the collection of data under the CRR2 Internal Model Approach.
• Postponing the 2027 benchmarking exercise to the second half of 2027.
• Postponing the collection of data under the CRR3 Alternative Internal Model Approach, given the uncertainty surrounding its effective implementation.
• Reorganising and rationalising the market risk reporting templates.

Booking instructions are included in an annex to the consultation paper. The deadline for comments is 3 September, with a public hearing scheduled for 28 July. The EBA will submit the draft ITS to the European Commission for endorsement before publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ). The technical standards will apply 20 days after their publication in the OJ.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published its final report with final draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) and implementing technical standards (ITS) under the revised Capital Requirements Directive (CRD VI) concerning prudentially material transactions. CRD VI introduces new supervisory tools covering material acquisitions, material transfers of assets or liabilities, mergers and divisions involving credit institutions or (mixed) financial holding companies and mandates the EBA to develop RTS to further specify aspects of these material operations, as well as ITS establishing common procedures, forms and templates for cooperation between competent authorities.

The RTS specify, in respect of each of the material operations, the minimum information to be provided, the common assessment methodology, and the process for the notification and prudential assessment. The ITS concern the common procedures, forms and templates for the consultation process between the relevant competent authorities concerning material operations. Following the December 2025 consultation, the EBA has introduced a number of changes to the draft RTS and ITS as summarised in section 4.3 of the final report.

The EBA has applied the principle of proportionality throughout the draft technical standards. The RTS avoid duplication by exempting institutions from submitting information already held by the competent authorities, and by leveraging documentation prepared under the Company Law Directive. Information requirements and assessment are further simplified for intra-group material transactions.

To enhance efficiency, competent authorities will be required to inform applicants without undue delay whether they will exercise discretion not to assess certain intra-group material acquisitions or mergers, where permitted under the CRD. In addition, a simplified regime is introduced for mergers and divisions involving smaller entities. The draft technical standards also address cases where a single transaction triggers multiple notification requirements under the CRD, introducing harmonised terminology, and common information requirements to streamline processes, improve clarity and supplement Level 1 provisions.

The draft technical standards will now be submitted to the European Commission for endorsement before undergoing scrutiny by the European Parliament and Council of the EU. They will then be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The European Commission (EC) has adopted a communication on the competitiveness of the EU banking sector, setting out measures to strengthen the Single Market for banking as part of its Savings and Investments Union strategy. Following a consultation in February and member state engagement, the EC has identified three key challenges that limit the banking sector's ability to support the EU economy effectively: (i) the sector remains too fragmented along national lines, preventing EU banks from scaling up and competing globally; (ii) the way Basel III standards are transposed into the EU framework does not always reflect the specific features of the EU banking landscape — the framework needs to work better for both large and small banks; and (iii) some parts of the EU regulatory framework, including the interaction between microprudential, macroprudential and resolution rules, as well as reporting requirements, are too complex and burdensome and should be simplified.

To address these challenges, the communication identifies measures that are built around three objectives:

• Removing barriers to cross-border banking activity and fostering market integration—allowing cross-border banking groups to use capital and liquidity more efficiently across the EU; strengthening common safeguards through proposing a simpler and more effective common deposit protection mechanism in the Banking Union, replacing the 2015 European Deposit Insurance Scheme proposal; and closer monitoring of EU anti-money laundering and consumer protection frameworks and their national implementation.
• Implementing international standards while considering EU specificities and proportionality—re-assessing how the EU implements certain international standards that may be limiting the lending capacity of EU banks; and possible revisions of certain prudential and corporate governance rules to better reflect EU banks' specificities in relation to banks' size, business models and activities.
• Simplifying the regulatory framework for banks—simplifying the capital stack and further harmonising banks' macroprudential buffers; standardising and streamlining resolution capital requirements and processes; and adjusting the criteria and thresholds for "small and non-complex institutions" and adapting their requirements.

The EC invites stakeholder feedback in the coming months and intends to publish a package of measures to amend the banking regulatory framework and deliver on this communication in Q1 2027. The EC has also published accompanying documents, including summaries of responses to its consultation and call for evidence, which can be found on its new webpage.

The European Commission has published two Delegated Regulations under the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR), in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ), to reflect amendments introduced by the Listing Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/2809).

• Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/788 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/522 to: (i) reflect the broader scope of the exemptions from the prohibition for persons discharging managerial responsibilities to trade during closed periods set out in Article 19(12) of the MAR; (ii) establish a list of designated trading venues that have significant cross-border dimensions for the purpose of implementing the mechanism to exchange order data referred to in Article 25a of the MAR with respect to shares; and (iii) update Annex II on the practices specifying the indicators of market manipulation, to account for technical developments such as algorithmic trading, and to correct a few erroneous cross-references. The Amending Regulation will enter into force on 5 August, being the 20th day following publication in the OJ.
• Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/789 setting out the requirements on the disclosure of inside information in protracted processes, including the conditions and arrangements for the delay of disclosure. Under Article 17(1) of MAR, issuers must disclose inside information as soon as possible, although Article 17(4) permits delayed disclosure in certain circumstances. The Listing Act amended this regime by excluding intermediate steps in protracted processes from disclosure, provided confidentiality is maintained, and by clarifying when disclosure may be delayed. The Delegated Regulation sets out non exhaustive lists of: (i) final events or circumstances that trigger disclosure along with the timing of such disclosure; and (ii) situations where there is a contrast between inside information whose disclosure is intended to be delayed, and the most recent public announcement or communication by the issuer or emission allowance market participant on the same subject. The Regulation will enter into force on 19 July, being the third day following publication in the OJ.

The Wolfsberg Group has published guidance on the provision of banking services to non-bank payment service providers (PSPs). The guidance is intended to help banks identify, assess and manage the financial crime risks arising from relationships with non-bank PSPs, recognising the increasing complexity of payment chains and the growing role of such firms in the payments ecosystem. It sets out a risk-based framework covering common business relationships, associated financial crime risks, compliance obligations and risk management expectations.

The guidance emphasises the need to: (i) apply a risk-based approach to due diligence and monitor the risks presented by different non-bank PSP activities; (ii) ensure payment transparency through complete and accurate payment information; and (iii) maintain a thorough understanding of a PSP's business model, customer activities and financial crime controls.

HM Treasury (HMT) has published a consultation on updating the Bank of England's (BoE) fee regime under Part 5 of the Banking Act 2009, for recognised payment systems. The proposals would align the regime with the BoE's expanded supervisory remit under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 by bringing digital settlement asset (DSA) service providers and related service providers within scope of the fee framework. This will allow the BoE to recover the costs of supervising these entities once they are recognised by HMT.

The consultation also proposes increasing the annual supervision fee cap from GBP760,000 to GBP1.7 million per in-scope provider, in any one year. In addition, the consultation proposes raising the cap on special project fees from GBP500,000 to GBP650,000, per in-scope system in any one year. The deadline for comments is 31 August.

HM Treasury (HMT) has published a report outlining key milestones achieved during the first year of the government's Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy. The government committed to reporting annually on progress in delivering the strategy, which sets out a ten-year plan to support growth and competitiveness in the UK financial services sector. Drawing on industry engagement conducted ahead of the Mansion House speech, the report notes broad support for the strategy's direction but emphasises that its credibility will depend on effective delivery. HMT highlights areas where it considers meaningful progress has been made, including introducing the Financial Services and Markets Bill, the development of a new UK regulatory regime for cryptoassets and strengthening international partnerships.

The UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has published consultation paper CP10/26 proposing to remove the "continuity of provision of services" requirements, Rule 9 of the Ring-fenced Bodies Part of the PRA Rulebook for ring-fenced banks (RFBs). The PRA also makes certain consequential changes and amends associated material in Chapter 8 of supervisory statement SS8/16.

The shared services rules are intended to ensure that RFBs remain operationally independent and can continue their core activities regardless of the financial position of other group entities. Some requirements also apply to third-party service providers, ensuring that service arrangements are protected from the actions of other group members. However, the PRA states that since the rules were introduced, other frameworks, particularly the Operational Continuity in Resolution regime, have developed and now achieve similar objectives in a more flexible way. Therefore, these rules should be deleted.

The deadline for responses is 14 October, with final rules expected in 2027. In parallel, HM Treasury has published a consultation on its ring-fencing reform package.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published consultation paper CP26/28, amongst a package of consultations on modernising the UK asset management regulatory framework. The consultation should be read alongside HM Treasury's (HMT) proposed reforms to the legislative framework for alternative investment fund managers (AIFMs), set out in a policy note and the draft statutory instrument (SI) published for technical comment.

Most firm-facing requirements inherited from the EU framework will move from legislation and be transferred to the FCA's rulebook. The FCA's consultation sets out the rules and changes it proposes to introduce in the following areas:

• A new three-tier regime for AIFMs, with requirements calibrated by firm size using net asset value thresholds of GBP750 million and GBP5 billion, replacing the current legislative thresholds.
• Simplification of the regime by removing or reducing detailed, prescriptive requirements inherited from the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, producing a more proportionate framework.
• A clarified scope of regulation and authorisation.
• A new FCA sourcebook titled the "Alternative Investment Funds sourcebook" for managers of unauthorised funds.
• Changes to valuation, leverage, risk management, liquidity management, delegation, investor disclosure and cross-border marketing requirements.

The consultation also includes discussion chapters on depositaries, prime brokers, the business restriction and the prudential regime for AIFMs. Feedback on the discussion chapters is due by 18 September, while feedback on all other consultation proposals, together with the discussion chapter on the prudential regime, is due by 14 October. The FCA intends to publish a policy statement in 2027 and will implement its rules in 2028.

HM Treasury (HMT) has published a consultation on proposed ring-fencing reform following its review published in May. The review found that while the regime remains an important component of UK financial stability, it should be updated to be more flexible, proportionate and responsive to developments. The government confirmed its intention to take forward a package of proposals through primary legislation (as part of the ongoing Financial Services and Markets Bill), secondary legislation and the UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) rulebook.

The government is now consulting on the technical details of implementing the aspects of the package to be delivered via secondary legislation. This covers:

• A new growth allowance, proposed at 10% of a ring-fenced banks (RFBs) Pillar 1 risk-weighted assets for credit risk (including counterparty credit risk). The allowance will incorporate existing small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) exemptions and the relevant financial institution de minimis.
• Expanding the range of products RFBs are permitted to offer, so the ring-fencing legislation on permitted derivatives will be brought into line with Basel 3.1 and permit RFBs to offer customers a wider suite of derivative products which are not in scope of the market risk relevant risk add-on as defined in the PRA Rulebook.
• Expanding the range of counterparties RFBs are permitted to have exposures to, including holding exposures to Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities and to Structured Finance Vehicles set up for the purpose of securitising SME loans, amongst others.
• Management of pension schemes.

HMT is also seeking to understand if any further technical changes could be made to address barriers to RFBs supporting the UK real economy.

The deadline for responses is 8 September. The government will consider feedback before publishing a draft statutory instrument; the final instrument will be laid in 2027, following Parliament's approval of the Financial Services and Markets Bill and subject to parliamentary time.

In parallel, the PRA published a consultation paper confirming its intention to consult on deleting rules 9.1, 9.2 and 9.3 of the Ring-fenced Bodies Part of the PRA Rulebook.

The House of Commons Treasury Committee has published a report on the government's Financial Inclusion Strategy following its inquiry launched in November 2025. The Committee concludes that while the strategy is a welcome first step, it does not amount to a comprehensive plan for tackling financial exclusion in the UK. The Committee found that the strategy fails to show who is financially excluded, where exclusion is concentrated, which products and services people are excluded from, or the reasons for exclusion, making it difficult to assess whether HM Treasury (HMT) is making the right interventions. It calls on HMT to publish a fuller quantitative assessment of the scale, causes and distribution of financial exclusion within six months, supported by clearer targets, data and accountability measures. The Committee also recommends that HMT and the UK Financial Conduct Authority develop firm-level metrics for the largest providers and markets where exclusion causes the greatest harm.

The Committee further argues that measures such as establishing working groups, pilots and consultations are not sufficient indicators of success and raises concerns about the extent of industry influence during the strategy's development. While acknowledging HMT's plans to implement industry-led pilots and working groups, the Committee questions whether these initiatives can deliver meaningful change without clear routes to scale and effective evaluation, and calls on HMT to clarify whether, and how, it will intervene if progress proves insufficient, and what the consequences would be. Given that the Financial Services and Markets Bill is currently before Parliament, and the length of time it could take to pass any future legislation, the Committee recommends that HMT consider now whether the Bill should include further targeted powers to intervene if voluntary action fails to secure reasonable access to essential financial services. This includes access to banking services.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published consultation paper CP26/26, amongst a package of consultations on modernising the UK asset management regulatory framework. The consultation is to be read alongside HM Treasury's proposed reforms to the legislative framework for the UK alternative investment fund manager (AIFM) regime.

The FCA states that currently, different reporting requirements across a range of fund types produce inconsistent data that is difficult to use and interpret, and a burden for firms to report. This consultation proposes a new framework, Fund Reporting for Asset Management Entities (FRAME), which would replace existing requirements with a single, risk-based regime. The proposals are intended to simplify and align reporting obligations more closely with the size, type and risk profile of the fund. The FCA also proposes new reporting requirements on fund holdings in relation to certain UK authorised funds and a new streamlined annual reporting requirement for certain Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) investment firms and operators of collective investment schemes that do not currently report to the FCA. This is to address gaps in the data it receives on wider asset management activity.

The FCA published three reporting templates showing the data it proposes to collect from managers and operators of different fund types, on a new webpage, together with a test online version. The FCA proposes to move certain submission processes online and is seeking feedback on this by 31 August. The deadline for comments on the rest of the consultation is 22 September. Final rules are expected in the first half of 2027 and the FCA will confirm the implementation date of FRAME in due course. Its aim is to fully implement the new regime in 2028, but it may explore whether some aspects of reporting could be introduced earlier, depending on firm readiness.

HM Treasury has published the recommendations of the UK-U.S. Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future, to strengthen cooperation between the UK and U.S. on digital assets and capital markets. In the digital assets space, the recommendations include establishing an industry-led group to test and share best practices on cross-border tokenisation use cases, identifying common approaches to the regulatory treatment of tokenised assets, supporting the development of a cross-border stablecoin market, and coordinating on international standards for the prudential treatment of cryptoassets at the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. Alongside the recommendations, the UK and the U.S. published a joint statement on stablecoins, underscoring a joint commitment to the digitalisation of finance.

The taskforce's capital markets recommendations focus on reducing cross-border frictions through greater cooperation between UK and U.S. authorities in areas including capital raising, consolidated tapes, audit standards and supervisory cooperation. Progress on the delivery of the recommendations will be reported through the UK-U.S. Financial Regulatory Working Group, to ensure they translate into practical outcomes for businesses and consumers on both sides.

HM Treasury has published the Dematerialisation Market Action Taskforce's (DEMAT) implementation plan and updated terms of reference to modernise the UK shareholding framework by removing paper share certificates and replacing them with digital share registers. The plan sets out a roadmap of legislative, operational and market changes for the government to take and what industry should do alongside this to make this work in practice. It confirms that shareholders do not need to do anything in preparation for the new system and that their rights will be unaffected.

Alongside the plan, the government published its response, accepting DEMAT's recommendations and confirming it will legislate to move towards this new model before the end of 2027. The specific date will be confirmed in due course, giving stakeholders sufficient time to prepare. DEMAT is expected to publish a further report next year addressing the next phases of the programme.

The UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has published policy statement PS16/26, setting out its final rules to accommodate HM Treasury's (HMT) overseas prudential requirements regime (OPRR), which will revoke and restate certain Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) equivalence provisions in UK legislation. HMT consulted on the creation of the regime in July 2025 and published its response in February, in parallel to the PRA's consultation on that same date. The changes are intended largely to maintain the existing prudential framework while ensuring that PRA rules operate effectively under the new legislative regime.

Following consultation feedback from a single joint response, the PRA has made a number of clarificatory and technical amendments, including changes to certain defined terms, as well as minor updates to Pillar 2 instructions, supervisory statements (SoP5/25, SS31/15 and SS4/26) and reporting instructions to reflect the introduction of the OPRR and revocation of the CRR provisions. The amended materials are included in the appendices of the policy statement. Final rules will apply from 1 January 2027 (alongside the implementation of Basel 3.1). This will coincide with HMT's commencement regulations that revoke the relevant provisions of the UK CRR, which are expected to be replaced by the draft Overseas Prudential Requirements Regime (Credit Institutions and Investment Firms) Regulations 2026.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published consultation paper CP26/27, amongst a package of consultations on modernising the UK asset management regulatory framework. The consultation is to be read alongside HM Treasury's proposed reforms to the legislative framework for the UK alternative investment fund manager (AIFM) regime.

In this consultation, the FCA proposes a significant overhaul of the remuneration regime for solo-regulated firms. The FCA proposes replacing the existing remuneration codes for AIFMs, Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) management companies and MiFID Prudential Sourcebook (MIFIDPRU) investment firms with a single, consolidated remuneration code (SYSC 19AA). The proposals would move away from detailed, prescriptive requirements towards a more outcomes-focused and proportionate framework, placing greater reliance on firms' governance arrangements and management body oversight.

In addition, the FCA proposes to simplify and update definitions and terminology to reflect the new code and the removal of the existing ones, make consequential amendments across the Handbook (including to the glossary, Senior Management Arrangements, Systems and Controls and other relevant sourcebooks), and set out transitional and sequencing arrangements, including how the new code would apply alongside forthcoming changes to the AIFM framework, so that firms are clear about how and when requirements would take effect. The FCA also proposes to revoke existing non-Handbook guidance where no longer relevant and incorporate elements into the new code.

The deadline for comments is 16 September. The final rules are expected to apply the day after the final policy statement is published in Q1 2027. The new code would apply from that date to remuneration relating to performance periods beginning on or after the commencement date. For AIFMs, and to align with the wider AIFM reform, part of which includes changes to the definitions and thresholds used to categorise AIFM firms, the new code would apply in two stages—initially to full scope UK AIFMs from the commencement date in Q1 2027, and subsequently to medium and large UK AIFMs once the AIFM reforms take effect.