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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 Bank of England (BoE) has published the record of the Financial Policy Committee's (FPC) meeting held on 25 September. The headline judgements and policy actions from the meeting include:

• The likelihood of interconnected vulnerabilities in the financial system crystallising has risen since the FPC's previous meeting. The re-escalation of the conflict in the Middle East has renewed uncertainty around growth and the path of interest rates in a number of advanced economies, re-intensifying the risk that vulnerabilities in sovereign debt markets, risky asset valuations, and risky credit markets crystallise at the same time.
• The rapid increase in AI-related debt issuance broadens the exposure of capital markets to developments in AI. In addition, recent frontier AI incidents have heightened concerns about the pace of AI development and related cyber and operational risks. The FPC stresses the importance of managing these increasingly interconnected risks in a timely and prudent manner.
• Risky credit markets, including parts of private credit, remain vulnerable to a tightening in financing conditions. It notes the importance of the private markets system-wide exploratory scenario in filling data gaps.
• Households and corporates remain resilient, and the UK banking system remains appropriately capitalised with high levels of liquidity.
• The FPC has decided to maintain the UK countercyclical capital buffer rate at its neutral setting of 2%.
• The Committee has agreed to proceed with the proposed leverage ratio reforms as set out in the July financial stability in focus report, which the BoE expects to consult on in early 2027. This increases the importance of continuing to develop and implement measures to improve the resilience of the gilt repo market. If, in future, the Committee were to judge that risks were heightened and that additional resilience was warranted, it would consider increasing the general leverage ratio buffer above 25 basis points.
• The most material climate-related channels to UK financial stability are the potential long-run impacts of climate change on sovereign debt pressures globally. The analysis behind this will be published in a forthcoming BoE Insights article.

Separately, the BoE published its systemic risk survey results for H2 2026 to quantify participants' views of risks to, and their confidence in, the stability of the UK financial system.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published its work programme, setting out its key areas of focus and deliverables for 2027. The work programme is structured around three cost-cutting drivers: improving efficiency, fostering resilience and supporting transformation. Key areas of focus include:

• completing the implementation of the EU's 2024 banking package
• implementing the new payment services framework
• supporting crisis management and deposit insurance reforms
• contributing to the Savings and Investments Union (SIU) and the legislative proposals for the revised securitisation framework
• implementing a new supervisory convergence framework
• enhancing stress testing and simulation capacity
• advancing integrated reporting and data sharing
• strengthening internal governance and IT resilience
• continuing work under the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) and the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR).

The EBA also highlights its commitment to regulatory simplification, proportionality, and reducing unnecessary reporting and compliance burdens, in support of the European Commission's banking competitiveness agenda. Chapter 2 of the work programme provides detailed descriptions of the specific activities that the EBA intends to undertake in 2027, including the timings of those activities.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its 2027 work programme, setting out its priorities for strengthening, simplifying and integrating EU capital markets. It marks a decisive shift from analysis and groundwork to implementation and concrete delivery, building on the foundations laid in 2025 and 2026 and bringing key strategic cycles to completion. Key areas of work for 2027 include:

• Growing supervisory mandates: ESMA will advance its supervision of consolidated tape providers and external reviewers of European Green Bonds, and will process the applications and begin the supervision of environmental, social and governance (ESG) rating providers. ESMA will also adapt to its expanded responsibilities for benchmark administrators. It will carry out oversight of critical ICT third-party service providers and continue monitoring and promoting compliance with the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) across all of its supervisory mandates. ESMA will also review the impact of EMIR 3 reforms and continue cooperation with national competent authorities, including on the supervision of cryptoasset service providers under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR).
• Delivering more efficient financial markets: ESMA will prepare for changes to its mandates and responsibilities arising from the proposed Market Integration and Supervision Package (MISP), and support implementation of the European Single Access Point and the transition to T+1 settlement. It will also continue work on investor protection by supporting the implementation of the Retail Investment Strategy and promoting clear, accessible information for investors. ESMA has also stated that its simplification initiatives on transaction reporting, funds reporting, the retail investor journey and risk-based supervision will enter a new phase in 2027.
• Harnessing data and technological innovation: ESMA will further enhance its use of data and technology, including AI-based supervisory tools. It will also strengthen cybersecurity capabilities and continue its work on cryptoassets and the impact of AI on financial markets. Tokenisation will also remain a priority.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published Handbook Notice No. 144, outlining amendments to its Handbook made by various instruments including:

• Markets in Financial Instruments (Record Keeping, Transaction Reporting and Financial Instrument Reference Data) Instrument 2026, which comes into force on 3 April 2028. The instrument makes changes to the scope, content and operation of the transaction reporting regime. The changes aim to simplify firms' reporting obligations, reduce duplicative or low-value reporting and improve consistency in how key fields are populated.
• Changes to Information Flows for UK Equity IPOs Instrument 2026, which came into force on 5 August. This instrument updates the FCA's rules on information sharing during UK equity initial public offerings (IPOs) to reduce market risk and frictions in the UK IPO process for issuers and market participants.
• Collective Investment Schemes Sourcebook (Liquidity Management) Instrument 2026, which comes into force on 1 February 2027. Introduced following the consultation published in CP25/38, the instrument makes targeted improvements to the liquidity risk management framework for authorised fund managers (AFMs) of UK Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) schemes and non-UCITS retail schemes. The changes promote the effective use of antidilution tools, clarify good practice for AFMs' assessment of the liquidity of securities held in funds, and introduce new guidance on stress testing.
• Perimeter Guidance (Regulated Cryptoasset Activities) Instrument 2026. Part 1 of Annex B of this instrument came into force on 16 September, with the remainder coming into force on 25 October 2027. It sets out perimeter guidance for the UK's future cryptoasset regime, helping firms understand when authorisations for cryptoasset activities will be required.
• Collective Investment Schemes Sourcebook (Cryptoasset Exchange Traded Note) Instrument 2026, which came into force on 28 September. Introduced following the consultation published in chapter 5 of CP26/17, the instrument allows certain authorised funds to hold cryptoasset exchange traded notes, subject to a limit of 10% of scheme property for retail funds.
• Cryptoasset Activities (Periodic and Application Fees) Instrument 2026, which came into force on 30 September, with Part 2 of the annex coming into force on 25 October 2027. This instrument sets out the application fees and periodic fees that firms with cryptoasset regulated activities permissions will pay to fund the FCA and the UK Financial Ombudsman Service.
• Disclosure of Climate-Related Financial Information (Asset Manager and Asset Owner) (Amendment) Instrument 2026, which came into force on 25 September. This instrument simplifies the FCA's Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures product-level reporting requirements for asset managers, life insurers and FCA-regulated pension providers in the ESG sourcebook. It introduces more targeted climate disclosure rules that reduce complexity and burden for firms, while improving the clarity and usability of climate information for investors.
• Financial Promotion (Notification of Cryptoasset Approval) Instrument 2026, which came into force on 1 October. Introduced following the consultation published in chapter 6 of CP26/17, the instrument removes the requirement to submit notifications for most approvals of cryptoasset promotions, reducing the burden on both firms and the FCA.
• Decision Procedure and Penalties Manual (Cryptoassets) (Amendment) Instrument 2026. Part 1 of Annex B came into force on 30 September, with the remainder coming into force on 25 October 2027. Introduced following the consultation published in CP26/19, the instrument makes minor and consequential amendments to the Decision Procedure and Penalties Manual and the Glossary arising from the introduction of the market abuse regime for cryptoassets. The amendments apply the FCA's existing market abuse penalty framework to cryptoasset market abuse and identify the FCA decision-makers responsible for exercising powers under the transitional provisions of the Cryptoassets Regulations.
• Data Decommissioning (No 2) Instrument 2026, which came into force on 1 October. This instrument simplifies the scheduling rule for Section M of the Retail Mediation Activity Return and clarifies guidance notes for firms completing the FIN073 return.
• Pensions Projections Exemption Instrument 2026 and Conduct of Business (Interactive Pension Simulations) Instrument 2026, both of which came into force on 25 September.

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

The Financial Services and Markets Bill has completed its third reading in the House of Lords and was subsequently introduced in the House of Commons for first reading. Parliament also published the Bill as brought from the Lords, reflecting amendments agreed during its passage through the House of Lords. A date for the second reading in the House of Commons has not yet been announced.

The European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) has published a draft report (dated 10 September) and motion for a resolution on the competitiveness of the banking sector in the EU. The report welcomes the European Commission's (EC) July communication on "Competitiveness of the Banking Sector and the Single Market in Banking" but calls for ambitious legislative action to complete the Banking Union, remove unjustified national barriers to the single market and facilitate market-led cross-border consolidation.

Key proposals include:

• Broadening the mandates of the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) to include competitiveness and innovation as a formal secondary objective, without prejudice to their primary objective of financial stability.
• Simplifying the capital stack by reducing overlapping buffers and supervisory add-ons, and exploring a significantly simpler regime for small, non-systemic banks.
• Enhancing the small and medium-sized enterprise supporting factor and raising the threshold for qualifying exposures.
• Launching an omnibus legislative initiative to eliminate obsolete, duplicative or excessively burdensome provisions, and empowering the ESAs to challenge disproportionate national gold-plating.
• Encouraging banks to deploy AI in areas such as creditworthiness assessments, fraud prevention and risk management.
• Clarifying the interaction between the AI Act and sectoral financial services legislation and shaping the regulatory framework for digital assets and tokenisation to preserve the EU's role in global finance.

The EC's detailed package of proposed legislative reform is expected in Q1 2027.

The House of Lords has published an updated webpage for the Financial Services and Markets Bill, confirming that the Bill is scheduled for third reading in the House of Lords on 15 September. Materials relating to the final report stage sitting on 9 September have also been published, providing details of the debates and proceedings during the Bill's consideration in the House of Lords, together with a current version of the Bill (as amended on report). After it concludes the third reading, the Bill will pass to the House of Commons for first reading.

The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade has published a consultation on modernising the UK corporate reporting framework system. It sets out wide-ranging proposals to simplify and modernise the framework, guided by five core principles including: clarity of purpose; flexibility and trust; simplicity and coherence; proportionality; and fitness for the future.

Key proposals include:

• Clarifying that annual reports and accounts are documents primarily intended for investors and creditors.
• Simplifying which companies are required to report different types of information. The government wishes to take a fresh look at the Companies Act 2006 to rationalise the scopes, thresholds and exemptions which determine what disclosures a company must make and is considering how thresholds and exemptions might be changed to take companies out of requirements.
• Creating a lighter regulatory load for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including allowing certain medium-sized companies to qualify for an audit exemption. The government is consulting on creating a reporting framework for SMEs which would allow certain medium-sized companies to claim a wider package of exemptions, including extending the small company audit exemption to certain medium-sized companies.
• Testing the merits of non-financial reporting requirements for private companies, including the possible creation of a new "very large" company threshold that could be applied to non-financial reporting requirements.
• Streamlining the UK's financial reporting framework by moving detailed requirements out of the Companies Act 2006 and into accounting standards, reducing available standards to four main standards, replacing the "true and fair presumption" for micro-entities with an obligation to prepare accounts that comply with the micro-entities standard, and creating a new accounting standard for not-for-profit entities.
• Replacing the complex rules on distributable profits and capital maintenance with a solvency-based regime for determining the legality of dividend payments.
• Simplifying and streamlining the strategic report requirements by removing prescriptive obligations and enabling companies to explain performance, strategy and governance in a way that reflects the size and nature of their business. The government is also considering which companies should be required to comply with future strategic reporting requirements.
• Simplifying remuneration and corporate governance reporting.
• Embracing digital communications, including making electronic communication with shareholders the default option.
• Introducing a central government "Reporting Gateway" function to examine the merits of future reporting proposals, ensuring they are coherent, proportionate and cost-effective.

The deadline for responses is 30 November. The government aims to publish its consultation response within six months of the consultation closing.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its quarterly consultation paper No. 53 inviting feedback on proposed amendments to its Handbook across financial promotion rules, banking conduct of business requirements, the new cryptoasset regime, complaints reporting, money market fund (MMF) reporting and the consumer composite investment (CCI) rules.

Key proposals include:

• Amending the financial promotion rules applicable to fractional shares, by amending the readily realisable security definition to include fractional shares that meet specified conditions.
• Removing an expired reference to the British Bankers' Association/Building Societies Association Code of Conduct for the Advertising of Interest Bearing Accounts in BCOBS 2.3.9G and replacing the reference in BCOBS 2 Annex 1, Note 1, to the latest Annual Equivalent Rate practice note published by UK Finance and the Building Societies Association.
• Making deferral arrangements for parts of the new cryptoasset regime (effective 25 October 2027), including relating to the admission process of qualifying cryptoassets on UK qualifying cryptoasset trading platforms, the execution venue requirements on UK-authorised dealers and arrangers, and the execution policy requirement for these firms.
• Correcting complaints data reporting rules by removing a duplicate data point on claims management fee cap redress in the Consumer Credit Return and clarifying the Handbook Glossary definition of "firm" for the purposes of DISP 1.10 and DISP 1.10A to ensure that payment services and e-money firms are within scope of these requirements.
• Removing the reference in DISP to the two-stage complaints process for the Society of Lloyd's.
• Updating MMF reporting requirements to ensure a proportionate approach that allows for effective monitoring of financial stability risks and is integrated into wider funds reporting requirements.
• Making minor amendments to the CCI rules in the DISC and COBS sourcebooks following feedback to PS25/20.

The deadline for comments is 12 October, and the proposed amendments are set out in draft instruments contained in the appendices to the consultation.

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published a letter (dated 28 August) from its Chair, Andrew Bailey, to G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, on the current risks to financial stability. While the financial system has continued to absorb the supply shock from the conflict in the Middle East, global markets remain vulnerable to a disorderly correction amid sovereign debt market fragilities, vulnerabilities in private credit and stretched asset valuations, particularly those linked to AI investments. The letter highlights concern that increasing leverage in equity markets, combined with high valuations, market concentration and AI-related cross-investment, could amplify future market stress. Mr Bailey also identifies frontier AI models as an emerging financial stability risk, particularly due to their potential impact on cyber resilience, and calls on authorities to support the safe and responsible release and deployment of such models. He further stresses the importance of robust response and recovery capabilities within financial institutions and resilience among critical third-party technology and service providers. He concludes that the FSB remains focused on identifying emerging vulnerabilities, strengthening resilience and ensuring that innovation is consistent with financial stability.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its latest wealth management survey report for 2026, focusing on discretionary portfolio management. The report shares data and insights to help firms understand the market, compare their approach and raise standards. Drawing on survey data from around 400 wealth management firms, as well as regulatory returns and other FCA and public data sources, the FCA highlights both progress and persistent weaknesses across the sector.

Key findings are set out below in the following areas:

• AI adoption—13% of firms currently use AI tools and 45% are using or considering AI, but the FCA warns that firms must use these tools responsibly and understand associated risks around fraud, cyber security and client harm.
• Outsourcing—92% of firms outsource part of their business, with the FCA emphasising that firms remain responsible for the services they provide and must ensure strong oversight, so clients receive consistent outcomes.
• Financial crime controls—some firms still do not refresh Know Your Client checks for higher-risk clients after a trigger event or at least annually; 26% do not collect expected transaction frequency; around 6% do not screen for politically exposed persons; and around 7% do not carry out sanctions screening.
• Fair value—the FCA's Financial Lives 2024 survey found that 17% of clients using a named wealth management firm were concerned that fees were high, hidden or complex, indicating pricing is not always clear or consistently applied.
• Consumer vulnerability—83% of firms now identify at least one client with characteristics of vulnerability (up from 68% in the first survey), yet practices remain inconsistent and firms are urged not to treat vulnerability as a one-off assessment.

The FCA confirmed it will not repeat the full survey this year but intends to issue a shorter version in 2027, focused on portfolio management activity. The FCA will continue to look for smarter ways to use data and engage with the sector.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published the findings from its review of its early and high growth oversight pilot. Between July 2025 and March 2026, the FCA engaged with 15 firms across asset management, wealth management and payments as part of a high-growth pilot. This was to identify rapidly growing firms earlier and support them as they establish and evolve their business. The FCA assessed whether their governance, risk management and control frameworks were developing in line with their growth. The FCA has set out its findings, including examples of good and poor practice:

• Governance and senior management oversight—Firms with stronger arrangements ensured governance, risk management and control frameworks kept pace with business growth. They had clear board and committee structures, with defined roles and responsibilities, regular oversight of risk and compliance matters, and high-quality management information for better decision-making. However, in some firms, governance arrangements had not kept pace with business growth. Board and committee structures including the scope, frequency and format of meetings, were not always effective and some firms lacked sufficient independent challenge, with responsibilities concentrated among a small number of individuals.
• Risk management frameworks—Stronger firms had more mature risk management approaches. Some used risk-focused committees to review enterprise-wide risks and escalate issues to the board, supported by clear risk appetites and key risk indicators. However, some firms relied heavily on key individuals, with limited contingency, succession planning, or broader knowledge transfer arrangements. Some firms also failed to sufficiently consider whether their risk management resources remained appropriate for the scale and complexity of the business.
• Resourcing, capability and scalability—As their business evolved, stronger firms invested in capability by recruiting and training staff, and in scalability through improved technology. They also demonstrated forward-looking regulatory judgement, preparing early for upcoming policy changes and legal requirements. However, the FCA identified some weaknesses in firms' capability and control frameworks where business models or customer populations had evolved but internal policies and procedures had not.
• Systems, controls and management information—Stronger firms had proactive cyber and operational resilience arrangements. This included using recognised security standards, penetration testing, third-party oversight and structured governance over the use of emerging technologies such as AI. Weaknesses included insufficient conflict of interest arrangements and management information that had not been updated.
• Financial resilience—Stronger firms proactively monitored key financial risks, including liquidity and counterparty exposures. Some firms used stress testing to check that their cost base was resilient, and that they could remain viable during periods of stress while continuing to meet regulatory capital requirements. In order to improve, the FCA highlights that some firms need to strengthen their financial resilience planning. In particular, wind-down plans are not always current, practical or proportionate to the business.

The FCA has provided individual feedback to all firms involved in the pilot. The FCA encourages firms experiencing growth to consider these findings and assess whether their arrangements remain appropriate for their size, scale, complexity and risk profile. If they find gaps, firms should take timely and appropriate action.

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 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 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 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.

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.

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.

The House of Lords has announced the conclusion of committee stage scrutiny of the Financial Services and Markets Bill following six days of detailed examination. During the final day of committee stage, members considered amendments relating to tokenisation in wholesale financial markets, regulation of the digital asset sector, improving public understanding of financial services, and financial services dispute resolution. The Bill will now proceed to report stage, where further amendments may be considered.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) have highlighted their progress in advancing their secondary competitiveness and growth objective in response to the House of Lords Financial Services Regulation Committee June 2025 report. In a one-year update dated 12 June, the FCA reported on a range of measures it has worked on, aimed at supporting UK competitiveness, including capital markets reforms, initiatives to improve retail investment and mortgage access, expanded innovation services, reduced regulatory reporting burdens and more streamlined supervisory and authorisation processes. Looking ahead, the FCA identifies further focus areas including open banking and open finance, tokenisation and investment reforms, and broader market initiatives.

Separately, in a letter dated 28 June, the PRA outlined progress in embedding the objective through prudential reforms designed to improve proportionality and reduce unnecessary burdens, including the strong and simple regime for smaller banks, changes to reporting requirements, reforms to capital and resolution frameworks, and initiatives to support investment and operational efficiency. The annex to the letter provides more information on the PRA's response to each of the Committee's recommendations it had set out to the PRA. Both regulators emphasised that promoting competitiveness and growth must remain consistent with their primary objectives of maintaining financial resilience, market integrity and consumer protection.

The Bank of England's (BoE) Financial Policy Committee (FPC) has published its July financial stability report alongside the record of its 26 June meeting. The FPC meets to identify risks to financial stability and agree policy actions aimed at safeguarding the resilience of the UK financial system.

Key topics covered include:

• Markets: Vulnerabilities in risky asset valuations, sovereign debt markets and risky credit markets, including private credit, remain and some have become more pronounced since the December 2025 financial stability report. Notably, there has been a substantial increase in the use of leverage in equity markets.
• AI-related risks: The FPC examined the macro financial risks arising from the AI transition across a range of sectors. It also notes that recent rapid advances in frontier AI capabilities have increased financial stability risks related to cyber and operational resilience.
• Countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB): The FPC maintained the UK CCyB rate at its neutral setting of 2%.
• Private markets: The FPC welcomed the BoE's publication of the stress scenario for the private markets system wide explanatory scenario (SWES). The FPC expects to use the SWES to improve its understanding of how banks and non-banks active in private markets would respond to a severe but plausible global downturn.
• Bank capital reform: Following its review of bank capital requirements, the FPC announced that it will work with the UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) to modernise the capital framework. The proposed reforms aim to improve the usability of capital buffers and make leverage ratio requirements more proportionate and effective while maintaining overall financial system resilience. 
• Stablecoins and money market funds (MMFs): The FPC welcomed the BoE's policy statement and consultation on the draft code of practice for systemic sterling-denominated stablecoins and recent statements by HM Treasury and the UK Financial Conduct Authority on their plans to strengthen the resilience of MMFs.

The draft Building Societies Act 1986 (Assimilation to Company Law and Changes to Funding Limit) Order 2026 has been published and laid before Parliament, alongside an explanatory memorandum. The draft 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 draft Order makes provisions to exclude certain sources of funding for the purposes of calculating the funding limit. This includes: liquidity facilities which form part of the BoE's sterling monetary framework; debt instruments issued by building societies to meet BoE's Minimum Requirements for Own Funds and Eligible Liabilities (MREL); and sale and repurchase agreements entered into by building societies using High Quality Liquid Assets held to meet the UK Prudential Regulation Authority's Liquidity Coverage Requirement.

These changes are intended to ensure building societies are not discouraged from practices which support prudent management of liquidity, and that instruments issued to meet MREL requirements are treated appropriately with other excluded regulatory capital instruments. The Order is expected to come into force on 1 January 2027.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a statement reminding firms to assess whether the new products they offer fall within the scope of existing national product intervention measures on binary options. ESMA's statement responds to the growing popularity of prediction markets—or event contracts— and increasing retail participation globally. ESMA defines "event contracts" as agreements whose financial outcome is binary (a fixed payout or no payout at all) and depends on a yes-or-no answer to a question about a future event. ESMA confirms that not all event contracts are financial instruments, and only event contracts with an event question related to an underlying mentioned in Section C(4) to (10) of Annex I of MiFID II classify as financial instruments. Event contracts qualifying as financial instruments are derivatives and fall within the scope of the temporary product intervention measures on binary options which were initially adopted by ESMA Decision (EU) 2018/7952 and which were subsequently replaced by permanent national product intervention measures mirroring the ESMA temporary measures. As a result, the marketing, distribution or sale of such products to retail clients is prohibited. ESMA reminds firms that product categorisation depends on a product's characteristics rather than its commercial name, and that firms must carefully assess whether the measures apply to the products they offer, while meeting the overarching obligation to act honestly, fairly and professionally in accordance with the best interests of clients. ESMA also reminds firms that providing investment services relating to such instruments requires MiFID II authorisation, even when only distributed to non-retail clients.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published its 2025 report on supervisory convergence highlighting ongoing progress in aligning supervisory practices across the EU. The report forms part of the EBA's mandate under its Founding Regulation to enhance supervisory convergence across the internal market, and covers prudential supervision, resolution, consumer protection, digital finance and anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CTF) supervision. While progress was made in 2025, the EBA identified a number of gaps and challenges, particularly through its European Supervisory Examination Programme.

In prudential supervision, although institutions progressed in transitioning to Basel III under the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR3), challenges remain in data quality and interpretation of new requirements. Separately, divergences were identified in P2R, particularly for concentration and interest rate risks, while P2G methodologies showed improving alignment yet remained uneven across jurisdictions.

In digital operational resilience, gaps persist in third party risk governance and automation of controls.

In resolution, challenges continue in the operational ability to deliver valuation data within short timelines, documentation completeness, governance and data-quality assurance, as well as the operationalisation and mobilisation of liquidity and collateral.

The report also highlights ongoing weaknesses in AML/CTF supervision and coordination, risks arising under MiCAR and gaps in the integration of ESG risks into supervisory frameworks.

Looking ahead, the EBA will focus on implementing Basel III reforms, advancing resolution testing frameworks, and strengthening supervision under DORA and MiCAR.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published Handbook Notice No. 142 which covers changes on which the FCA consulted on (among other proposals) in its quarterly consultation paper No. 51 and its consultation CP25/37 on targeted clarifications of Handbook materials.

The notice confirms the implementation of changes included in quarterly consultation paper No. 51 in relation to:

• The UK equity transparency regime, which moved provisions from UK RTS 1 to MAR 11A.
• The UK market abuse regime, where clarification has been made by introducing new provisions in MAR 1A.2 confirming where breaches of MAR do not give rise to a private right of action under section 138D of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
• The UK authorised fund regime, with changes to the COLL rules in line with amendments to the revised 2025 statement of recommended practice for authorised funds.

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The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published quarterly consultation paper No. 52, inviting feedback on proposed amendments to its Handbook.

Proposed changes include:

• Simplifying product-level climate and sustainability disclosure requirements for asset managers, life insurers and pension providers, while maintaining the original policy intent under PS21/24.
• Aligning FCA fees to set regulated income as the tariff base for cryptoasset firms and inserting new fee categories to account for new regulated crypto activities.
• Consequential amendments to reflect the revocation of UK Capital Requirements Regulation provisions.
• Allowing certain authorised funds to hold cryptoasset exchange traded notes subject to a limit of 10% of scheme property.
• Deleting the requirement for approvers of qualifying cryptoasset financial promotions to submit notifications following certain approvals.
• Updating section M of the Retail Mediation Activities Return (RMA-M) and related guidance.

The deadline for comments is 13 July.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a letter addressed to the European Commission (EC) de-prioritising certain 2026 deliverables under its annual work programme. Due to the increased workload arising from the market integration and supervision package (MISP) proposal and the broader political focus towards simplification and burden reduction, ESMA confirms that a small number of planned policy deliverables (set out in Table A of Annex I in the work programme) may become obsolete or altered depending on the final outcome of the legislative negotiations of the MISP package. To avoid duplication or inconsistency, ESMA has also decided to postpone related consultations until after the package is adopted. For more information on MISP and its potential implications for market participants, you may wish to watch our webinar.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its annual report on the quality and use of data in 2025. This sixth edition expands the scope of coverage to include prospectus reporting, credit rating agency reporting, central counterparty supervisory reporting, crowdfunding reporting, major ICT-related incident reporting under the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), reference data under the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) and ESMA registers.

The report shows continued progress in improving the quality, usability and supervisory application of regulatory data across EU financial markets. However, the report also highlights differing levels of maturity across datasets. Reporting under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) reached a steady state, with stable reporting rules and reconciliation requirements during 2025. MiFIR transaction reporting showed similar progress, with targeted data quality measures supporting more systematic supervisory use. As a result, transparency indicators are now calculated using MiFIR transaction data. Other regimes, notably the Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR) and the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) also showed positive developments but require further improvements in data quality and usability. For less mature datasets, the report presents first indicative measures of quality and use.

Looking ahead, ESMA, together with national competent authorities, will continue to further support sustained improvements in the quality of regulatory data with next steps set out in Chapter 5 of the report.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published Handbook Notice 141, outlining amendments to the FCA Handbook resulting from the following statutory instruments:

• Collective Investment Schemes (Use of Distributed Ledger Technology in Authorised Funds) Instrument 2026 and Collective Investment Schemes (Direct Dealing) Instrument 2026, which entered into force on 30 April. These reflect Handbook changes following PS26/7 on progressing fund tokenisation.
• Consumer Credit (Regulatory Reporting) (Amendment) Instrument 2026, which entered into force on 29 May. This makes minor amendments in SYSC 1.5.3R and SUP 16.
• Supervision Manual (Amendment) Instrument 2026, which entered into force on 1 June and introduces a new annual retail banking business model regulatory return, replacing the previous series of ad hoc data collections. 

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The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a press release highlighting that some firms, when approving financial promotions, should be doing more to protect consumers in line with the consumer duty. The FCA carried out a review that assessed ten authorised firms that approve financial promotions for businesses which are not authorised by the FCA, looking at firms who were approving financial promotions for buy-now, pay-later (also now referred to as deferred payment credit), crowdfunding and corporate finance firms. The new rules on authorised firms approving promotions for unauthorised firms came into force on 7 February 2024. The FCA's review focussed on sampling promotions that had been approved since the firm was authorised.

The FCA found that the strongest firms were applying the consumer duty from the start of their processes and were able to make sure that every promotion approved was accurate, clear and reached the right audience. However, some firms approved adverts with unsubstantiated claims or allowed retail investors to see promotions intended for professional clients. In some cases, firms relied on third-party templates instead of doing the checks themselves. As a result of the FCA's work, one firm has already had to conduct a remediation exercise, and some websites have been blocked to retail customers. The FCA will continue to monitor compliance and hold firms to account if they fall short.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a new webpage inviting applications for its Scale-up Unit for FCA solo-regulated firms. The Unit was launched in October 2025 and is designed to provide bespoke regulatory support to fast-growing firms across three groups: banks and building societies, insurers, and FCA solo-regulated firms. For the pilot cohort of FCA solo-regulated firms, applicants must demonstrate that they meet the eligibility criteria, including: being FCA-regulated and operating for at least three years; experiencing a period of sustained growth, with average income growth exceeding 20% over a three-year period and projected to continue at that rate; and generating gross annual revenue of over GBP100 million and/or achieving an investor valuation of over GBP250m (for example, through funding rounds). Meeting the criteria will not automatically guarantee acceptance. The FCA will also consider whether an application meets the definitions set out in the webpage. Applications are open until 22 June.

The UK Financial Services Regulatory Initiatives Forum has published the tenth edition of the Regulatory Initiatives Grid, setting out the ongoing and upcoming initiatives impacting the UK financial services sector. The Grid provides an overview of the current state of play as opposed to launching new initiatives, and is also used to communicate timing updates on deliverables where relevant. The grid includes a multi-sector section which covers cross-cutting and omnibus topics such as sustainable finance and operational and financial resilience. There are further sector specific sections including in relation to: banking, credit and lending; payment services and cryptoassets; investment management; retail investment; and wholesale financial markets.

The grid includes a number of UK developments in relation to other items in this week's update, including those mentioned in the King's speech, and the prospective changes in the Financial Services and Markets Bill. Further information is detailed in those specific items covered this week. Separate press releases announcing the Grid have also been published by the UK Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England.

Readers are also invited to provide feedback on the Grid and its usefulness in enabling planning for regulatory initiatives and any suggested improvements.

The Financial Services and Markets Bill, first introduced in the King's speech as the "Enhancing Financial Services Bill", has had its first reading in the House of Lords. The text of the Bill was published with accompanying explanatory notes. It proposes significant amendments to primary legislation, including the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013, as part of the government's growth and competitiveness strategy for the financial services sector.

Key proposals include: (i) modernising the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and reforming the UK Financial Ombudsman Service; (ii) consolidating the regulatory framework with the abolition of the UK Payment Systems Regulator; (iii) improving the operational effectiveness of the UK Financial Conduct Authority and the UK Prudential Regulation Authority; (iv) creating a new 'provisional licences' authorisation regime; (v) amendments to the appointed representatives regime including a requirement for principals to have specific permission to act as principal; (vi) creating a framework for HM Treasury to establish overseas recognition regimes for any financial services activity; (vii) reducing the burden of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime including repealing rules on the senior manager statements of responsibilities and the certification regime; (viii) updating the statutory framework underpinning the ring-fencing regime; and (ix) reforming the supervision of anti-money laundering / counter-terrorism financing.

The King's speech was delivered to Parliament, setting out a number of legislative measures relevant to financial services and the wider economic regulatory framework. The speech is accompanied by briefing notes, which outline the legislation to be brought forward. In the context of financial services, one of the bills announced is the Enhancing Financial Services Bill.

Key measures under this include:

• Reforming the UK Financial Ombudsman Service, as confirmed by HM Treasury (HMT) in its March consultation response to modernise the financial redress system.
• Abolition of the UK Payment Systems Regulator and integration into the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as confirmed by HMT in its April consultation response.
• Reducing administrative burden in the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, as confirmed by HMT in its April consultation response.
• Enabling credit unions to expand, as confirmed by HMT in its March call for evidence response on reforms to the credit union framework.

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HM Treasury (HMT) has published its consultation response on cross cutting reforms to the UK financial services regulatory environment. This follows its July 2025 consultation, which proposed changes to the legislative framework governing the operation of the UK financial services regulators, namely the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).

Following feedback, the government confirms it will amend the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to:

• Set new, shorter statutory deadlines for determining applications for new firm authorisations, variations of permissions and senior manager approvals.
• Require the FCA and PRA to produce new long-term strategies, at least once every five years.
• Require the regulators to have regard to regulatory and supervisory principles, as well as remit letters (containing recommendations from HMT) when producing their new long-term strategies, while removing the requirement to consider these factors when making day-to-day decisions.
• Remove a range of lower-value reporting and procedural requirements placed on the regulators.

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HM Treasury (HMT) has published its response to the September 2025 consultation on the commercial credit data sharing (CCDS) regime and the October 2025 consultation on the bank referral scheme (BRS). The proposals aimed to develop the UK small-and medium-sized enterprise (SME) finance framework. Following feedback, the government intends to proceed with CCDS reforms when parliamentary time allows. Key changes include: (i) expanding the designation regime beyond regulated banks to capture major SME finance providers; (ii) requiring broader data sharing of voluntary participants' SME customer information across credit reference agencies; and (iii) ensuring that SMEs qualifying for CCDS reporting exit the scheme once they have clearly and consistently exceeded the turnover threshold. Other reforms are listed in Chapter 2. The reforms will require changes to the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 and the Small and Medium Sized Business (Credit Information) Regulations 2015, and may involve further consultation and industry-led implementation.

Following mixed feedback to the BRS consultation, the government will not legislate at this stage. Instead, it is seeking industry-led proposals from the private sector by 18 December.

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The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published Handbook Notice No. 140, outlining amendments to the FCA Handbook resulting from the following statutory instruments:

• Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) (Management Expenses Levy Limit 2026/2027) Instrument 2026, entering into force on 1 April. This amends the FEES manual to reflect the approved levy cap for 2026/27.
• Short Selling Rules Sourcebook Instrument 2026, entering into force on 13 July. This introduces a new short selling sourcebook, which replaces the assimilated EU short selling regime and establishes a new UK framework.
• Individual Accountability (SMCR Review) Instrument 2026, with most changes having entered into force on 24 April while certain provisions come into force later in July and September. This implements the Phase 1 reforms of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, aimed at improving proportionality and efficiency.

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The European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission have announced the signing of a joint declaration agreeing to a "one Europe, one market roadmap", committing to deliver measures to strengthen and complete the EU Single Market by the end of 2027. The roadmap reflects a coordinated political and operational commitment to boost EU competitiveness amid geopolitical and economic volatility. It includes clear targets for legislative proposals and agreement by the co-legislators (set out in the annex), quarterly progress reviews, defined responsibilities for all EU institutions, and regular stocktaking to oversee implementation of the roadmap.

The annex groups key legislative and policy initiatives, together with indicative timelines, under five strategic building blocks: (i) simplifying rules; (ii) a more integrated Single Market, with the ten most harmful barriers removed; (iii) championing strong trade; (iv) reducing energy prices and decarbonising; and (v) driving digital and AI transformation. The three institutions commit to respecting these timelines and giving these initiatives the highest political priority in a manner that respects the legislative process and prerogatives of each institution.

The UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has published its business plan for 2026/27, setting out its regulatory and supervisory priorities for the year ahead.

The PRA's strategic priorities include:

• Maintaining the safety and soundness of the banking and insurance sectors, and ensuring continued resilience, with a focus on embedding major reforms such as Basel 3.1 and the small domestic deposit takers regime, as well as enhanced operational resilience and cyber risk management.
• Being at the forefront of identifying new and emerging risks, including those arising from geopolitical developments, economic and financial market developments and the evolving use of AI. The PRA will also continue to support the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision's targeted review of the prudential treatment of cryptoasset exposures and monitor sector-wide resilience while maintaining international and bilateral engagement.
• Supporting competitive, dynamic and innovative markets, while facilitating international competitiveness and growth through streamlined reporting (via the Future Banking Data programme) and tailoring support for fast-growing and innovative financial firms through its new scale-up unit and the concierge service for new inbound international firms.
• Running as an inclusive, efficient and responsive regulator within the Bank of England and increasing its adoption of emerging technology tools to improve its regulatory processes for firm authorisations, the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, internal model permission application and approvals.

The business plan sets out more detailed initiatives under each strategic priority.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has announced that it will regularly publish a list of known issues relating to the data point model (DPM) framework, with the aim of enhancing transparency and supporting reporting institutions. The list will serve as a single reference point for recurring technical issues. This is part of the EBA's broader simplification efforts to support the implementation of reporting requirements and reduce unnecessary operational burden, while maintaining data quality and supervisory objectives. The list published on 9 April covers issues relating to pillar 3 disclosures and resolution planning reporting.

The Bank of England (BoE) has published the record of the Financial Policy Committee's (FPC) meeting held on 27 March to identify risks to financial stability and agree policy actions aimed at safeguarding the resilience of the UK financial system. The FPC assesses that the conflict in the Middle East has triggered a substantial negative supply shock, leading to significant market moves (including higher and more volatile energy prices and higher government bond yields). While the financial system has been resilient so far, the shock is expected to weigh on growth, increase inflation and tighten financial conditions. The FPC highlights that these developments could interact with existing vulnerabilities it has previously identified in sovereign debt markets, risky asset valuations and risky credit markets (notably private credit), increasing the likelihood that multiple vulnerabilities could crystallise at the same time and amplify risks to financial stability. The FPC emphasises the need for timely and active risk management by market participants, including stress testing and liquidity preparedness that incorporate scenarios involving further sudden and significant price adjustments.

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The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published Handbook Notice No. 139, outlining amendments to the FCA Handbook resulting from the following statutory instruments:

• Redress Reforms Instrument 2026, which partially entered into force on 17 March with the remaining provisions coming into force on 1 June. This clarifies when firms should report emerging issues to the FCA and to improve the operational efficiency of the UK Financial Ombudsman and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme by streamlining processes and reducing the operational costs ultimately met by levy-paying firms.
• Notification of Third Party Arrangements and Operational Incident Reporting Instrument which comes into force on 18 March 2027. This makes changes to the Handbook to enhance incident and third party risk management, strengthen firms' operational resilience and minimise harm.

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