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 was 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) have 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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The European Commission (EC) has announced that it is taking action against several EU member states that have failed to notify it of measures they have adopted to transpose EU directives into their national laws. In particular, it has sent letters of formal notice to:

• Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden for failing to fully transpose the European Single Access Point (ESAP) Omnibus Directive (Directive 2023/2864).
• Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden for failing to fully transpose the amending Sixth Capital Requirements Directive (Directive 2024/1619).

The member states concerned now have two months to respond, complete their transposition and notify their measures to the EC. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the EC may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its annual work programme for 2026/27 setting out its planned activity for the second year of its five-year strategy. The programme is structured around the following four strategic priorities:

• Being a smarter regulator: to improve regulatory efficiency and proportionality, the FCA will continue to invest in digital, data and AI capabilities, reduce administrative burdens by simplifying rules and streamlining data returns (including removing three regular returns in April), and improve the authorisation process by further reducing authorisation timelines and continuing to report against new, shorter voluntary targets. In a press release published on the same day, the FCA announced it is developing a new internal AI-enabled authorisation tool, integrated into its existing systems. The FCA will also use generative AI to review documents received from firms, which, following successful testing, it will begin rolling out more widely across authorisations and supervision.

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The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its regulatory priorities reports for the wholesale markets and wholesale buy side sectors. These reports replace the FCA's previous portfolio letters and aim to provide a clearer and more consistent articulation of regulatory expectations.

The FCA's priorities for the wholesale markets sector for this year are to:

• Improve the resilience of firms and markets; given the elevated risk environment, the FCA expects firms to raise standards of operational resilience and third-party and technology risk oversight, ensure trading controls are robust, and bolster liquidity management and financial resilience.
• Enhance efficient, competitive and innovative markets; the FCA expects firms to engage with its market reforms and transparency initiatives and prepare for modernised trading and post-trade infrastructure, including T+1 settlement and digitalisation of market processes.

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HM Treasury has published its response to the 2024 call for evidence on reforming the credit union common bond framework. The review sought to assess whether parts of the common bond requirement should be updated to support sustainable growth and ensure the framework remains fit for purpose. Following feedback, HMT confirms it will legislate, when Parliamentary time allows, to:

• Increase the potential membership cap on the locality bond from 3 million to 10million.
• Permit students to join locality-based credit unions, in addition to those who reside or work in the geographical area.
• Allow credit unions to admit members' relatives into a credit union regardless of whether they live in the same household as the qualifying member, as well as individuals who live in the same household as the qualifying member. This is intended to reflect modern family dynamics and broaden the membership base.
• Allow credit unions to retain members of occupation and employer bonds as fully qualifying members upon retirement, including allowing retirees to join a credit union after retirement has begun. This will also apply to locality bonds where members are eligible based on employment within the locality.

Feedback on wider issues relating to the common bond will be considered at a later date.

The European Commission (EC) has published a report issued to the Council of the EU and the European Parliament, assessing the level of crisis preparedness of the EU financial sector in light of increasing geopolitical, cyber, climate and operational risks. The report states that the sector benefits from a robust, multi layered preparedness framework underpinned by sector specific legislation (including CRR/CRD, Solvency II, MiFID II, EMIR and CSDR), with particular emphasis on the Digital Operational Resilience Act alongside strong supervisory and crisis management arrangements at EU and national level.

It highlights the role of operational resilience, ICT and cyber risk management, business continuity planning, stress testing and supervisory coordination in ensuring the continuity of critical financial services, including payments and market infrastructure, during periods of crises. While noting the sector's resilience during recent shocks, the EC emphasises that preparedness must be subject to ongoing assessment. Further resilience is expected to be supported by initiatives such as the Savings and Investments Union and the proposed digital euro. In general, the EC notes that preparedness is not static; it is a dynamic, forward-looking state requiring a continuous cycle of planning, training, equipping, testing, evaluating and improving. It involves anticipating risks, building capabilities, coordinating across sectors and learning from past events to strengthen resilience, all of which the EC states apply equally to the financial sector.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its quarterly consultation paper No. 51, inviting feedback on proposed amendments to its Handbook. Significantly, it included a proposal to increase the clearing threshold for commodity derivatives under the UK version of the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (UK EMIR) to EUR5 billion, to ensure the threshold remains appropriate in light of higher commodity prices.

Other changes include:

• Consequential changes to the client assets sourcebook to ensure its effective application to regulated cryptoasset activities.
• Rehousing some provisions in Article 17 of the UK version of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/587 (RTS 1) into the framework now provided by MAR 11A and tidying up provisions relating to private rights of action.
• Making targeted changes to the collective investment scheme sourcebook to reflect amendments in the 2025 Statement of Recommended Practice for authorised funds.

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The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published Handbook Notice 138, outlining amendments to the FCA Handbook resulting from the following statutory instruments:

• Deferred Payment Credit Instrument 2026, which comes into force on 1 April, 15 July and 31 December. The instrument introduces the FCA's new regulatory regime for deferred payment credit (previously known as buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) credit).
• UK Listing Rules (Notification of Purchases) Instrument 2026, which came into force on 27 February. This instrument amends the requirements in UKLR 9.6.6R and UKLR 9.7.3R, which relate to the notification of purchases of own securities under the UK Listing Rules.
• Advice Guidance Boundary Review (Targeted Support) Instrument 2026, which introduces the framework for the new form of targeted support for consumers' pensions and retail investment decisions. The instrument came into force partially on 2 March, and the remaining provisions will come into force on 6 April, 31 December and 6 April 2027.

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The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Exemption) (Amendment) Order 2026 has been laid before Parliament. The Order exempts the British Business Bank plc, together with various of its subsidiary companies, and the National Housing Bank Limited from the general prohibition set out in section 19 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. It comes into force on 27 March.

The European Commission (EC) has published a proposal for a Directive to codify and replace Directive 2002/87/EC on the supplementary supervision of credit institutions, insurance undertakings and investment firms in a financial conglomerate. The proposal aims to improve legal clarity and accessibility by consolidating the existing framework governing cross‑sectoral supervision of financial conglomerates, including rules on capital adequacy, risk concentration, intra‑group transactions, governance, supervisory coordination and cooperation with third‑country authorities, into a single, clear and consolidated instrument.  It preserves the current supervisory structure, including the role of a designated coordinator, the involvement of the European Supervisory Authorities through the Joint Committee, and the use of delegated and implementing acts for technical adaptations. The codified Directive would repeal Directive 2002/87/EC upon entry into force, while maintaining member state obligations on transposition and application dates under the existing regime.

HM Treasury has launched a consultation on proposed reforms to the appointed representatives (ARs) regime, following its August 2025 policy statement. The aim is to strengthen confidence in the regime, enhance consumer protection and maintain its broad, cost-effective structure, so firms can engage in regulated activity without being authorised, allowing a broader range of providers to enter the marketplace.

Key proposals include:

• An FCA permission to act as principal. The government proposes to introduce a regulatory gateway for authorised firms wishing to act as principal. The new permission regime would be modelled on section 55NA of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA). This would provide the FCA with a specific mechanism to scrutinise prospective principals and ensure they are suitable, with the necessary expertise, resources and systems in place to provide effective oversight of ARs. Detailed requirements on the contractual relationship between principals and ARs will be contained in FCA rules.
• A targeted extension of the UK Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) compulsory jurisdiction, through amendments to FSMA, to ensure that all consumers of regulated financial services, whether dealing with an authorised firm or an AR, have access to the FOS on a consistent basis. In cases where the FOS determines that a principal firm cannot be held responsible for its AR's acts or omissions, the FOS will be able to directly consider the complaint against the AR itself.

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The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has published its 2026 work programme , setting out its five strategic priorities for the year:

• Strengthening financial resilience and market effectiveness – new key initiatives in this field for 2026 include: (i) addressing over-the-counter derivatives reporting fragmentation; (ii) working on the impact of market microstructures on liquidity and of extended trading hours on equity trading venues; (iii) contributing to the Financial Stability Board's (FSB) work on issues of non-bank data availability, use and quality; and (iv) contributing, as necessary, to follow-up work on the issue of leverage in non-bank financial intermediation (NBFI). IOSCO will also continue to develop work to strengthen the operational resilience of financial market infrastructures (FMIs).
• Enhancing investor protection – IOSCO will launch a new TechSprint in partnership with the UK Financial Conduct Authority's AI Lab and will explore products such as cryptoasset funds, private credit vehicles and retail-facing derivatives. IOSCO will also continue to engage with platform providers to advocate for restrictions on harmful or fraudulent content and to promote the use of its I-SCAN tool (its Enhanced Investor Alerts Portal).
• The evolution of public and private markets – key initiatives in this field include assessing the growing interconnectedness between private equity activities and the audit sector, contributing to the FSB's deep dive on private credit and researching the functioning of public equity markets.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its programming document for 2027–2029. In an evolving regulatory and market landscape, ESMA remains committed to effective and consistent supervision across the EU, strengthening investor protection and supporting orderly and resilient financial markets. A central priority is advancing the Savings and Investments Union (SIU), with ESMA contributing through policy development, enhanced supervisory convergence and potential new direct supervisory responsibilities. Simplification and burden reduction also remain key themes. ESMA intends to use upcoming SIU reforms to review and streamline its guidance and Level 2 instruments to reduce complexity. Additional priorities include risk based supervision, improving market data and digital capabilities, and contributing to reforms aimed at making EU capital markets more integrated, accessible and efficient. ESMA will also progress supervisory reporting reforms to lower compliance costs while improving data quality and will continue the phased implementation of the European Single Access Point (the EU-wide digital platform for public financial and sustainability information) with the first phase scheduled to launch in the second half of 2027.

HM Treasury (HMT) has announced that the inaugural UK‑China Financial Working Group in Beijing resulted in several landmark agreements aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation in financial services. According to the press release, the key commitments secured during the forum will make it easier for UK businesses to trade with China and will reinforce London's position as the world's leading international financial centre. Agreements were also reached to pursue new forms of cooperation between the UK and China on innovative financing, including the potential issuance of renminbi denominated sovereign biodiversity bonds to cement the UK's role as the global hub for green finance, as well as more efficient cross-border settlement services, supporting trade and investment flows.

A joint readout has also been published confirming that both sides have agreed to work towards the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in central counterparty (CCP) supervision between the People's Bank of China and the Bank of England, and to continue all necessary cooperation to support UK equivalence and recognition processes for Chinese CCPs and Chinese processes for UK CCPs.

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published its 2026 work programme. The FSB states it will continue its mission to promote global financial stability by addressing systemic financial risks and fostering international cooperation. Key priorities for the year include:

• Vulnerabilities assessments – the FSB will complete a report on private credit and will begin new work on vulnerabilities, possibly including work on foreign exchange derivative markets or private finance.
• Non-bank financial intermediation (NBFI) – the FSB will work to improve its methodologies to assess vulnerabilities in the non-bank sector as well as work on non-bank leverage and over-the-counter derivatives.
• Cross-border payments – the FSB will continue to coordinate the implementation of the G20 cross-border payments roadmap by helping jurisdictions with the development of their voluntary, specific and time-bound action plans.
• Digital innovation and AI – the FSB will continue to monitor developments regarding cryptoassets and will examine issues related to possible stablecoin vulnerabilities. It will also undertake work on sound practices for AI adoption, use and innovation by financial institutions, in close coordination with the standard-setting bodies.

Read more.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published its draft single programming document (SPD) for 2027–2029, outlining its strategic priorities and resource needs over the three‑year period. The EBA confirms it will focus on implementing new mandates for banking and payments including its oversight role under the Digital Operational Resilience Act, supervision of significant issuers of asset referenced and e money tokens under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation and validation of initial margin models under the amended European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR 3). The EBA will also focus on addressing emerging risks arising from geopolitical instability. This will require new approaches to risk assessment, financial stability monitoring and consumer protection. Supporting EU co legislators also remains central for the EBA as the SPD reflects the priorities for the financial sector and aims to keep the financial system strong while also ensuring it can fund the European economy.

Against this backdrop, the EBA identifies three strategic priorities for 2027–2029: (i) evolving and simplifying the Single Rulebook for banking and financial services; (ii) carrying out risk assessments to support effective risk analysis, supervision and oversight; and (iii) embracing innovation to enhance technological capacity across the sector. The EBA notes that close cooperation with relevant EU and third-country authorities will be required to meet its objectives.

The House of Commons Treasury Committee has published a letter (dated 21 January) from Nikhil Rathi, the Chief Executive of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), responding to the Committee's outstanding questions from the oral evidence session on 16 December 2025. Mr Rathi explains that the FCA is working at pace to deliver the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, including the Leeds Reforms, but that progress in several areas depends on legislation or government action. Mr Rathi notes that the FCA has completed nine initiatives under the strategy and is sequencing its rulemaking to align with expected legislative timetables, progressing in phases where possible.

He sets out the FCA's immediate priorities alongside the wider programme of work expected to progress this year, including associated timelines. Mr Rathi also outlines the FCA's key areas where it is awaiting legislative change or government action before it can advance other priorities.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its first Enforcement Watch newsletter, following the FCA's updated enforcement guide (ENFG) finalised in June 2025. The FCA proceeded with modest changes to its publicity policy, allowing the FCA, in certain circumstances, to publish more detailed information about issues under investigation on an anonymised basis. For more information you may like to read our blog post titled "The end of the road for (most of) the FCA's transparency proposals".

The first edition of the newsletter covers three main themes:

• Updated publicity policy in action – information on the updated powers the FCA can use under the revised policy, including announcing investigations without identifying firms and naming subjects only in "exceptional circumstances".
• Enforcement case priorities – an overview of enforcement operations the FCA opened since June 2025 and listing the areas the investigations covered.
• International partnerships – a reaffirmation of ongoing collaboration with global bodies, including through the International Organisation of Securities Commissions.

The European Securities and Markets Authority and the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority have published a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on 29 December 2025. The MoU establishes a framework for cooperation and information sharing in the supervision of credit rating agencies (CRAs) operating across both jurisdictions. While non binding in nature, it sets out principles for mutual assistance, including cooperation on registration and certification processes, ongoing supervision, enforcement actions, cross border on site inspections and the handling of emergency situations. It creates mechanisms for exchanging both solicited and unsolicited information, subject to confidentiality and data protection safeguards. It also outlines procedures for managing outsourced functions and maintaining professional secrecy. Both authorities commit to periodically reviewing the MoU and may amend or terminate it with appropriate notice.

The European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) has announced the adoption of its new digital strategy 2026–2028 and an updated data strategy 2023–2028, signalling a continued shift toward technology‑driven supervision and streamlined regulatory reporting. The new digital strategy sets out a roadmap focused on: enhancing EU‑wide digital synergies; strengthening the digital capabilities of both ESMA and the European System of Financial Supervision; improving operational efficiency; and ensuring a secure and future‑ready supervisory ecosystem.

The updated data strategy emphasises burden reduction and more integrated data management, with key new actions including major initiatives to streamline supervisory reporting, expansion of the ESMA data platform, further development of the MiCAR joint supervisory tool for crypto‑market monitoring and finalisation of the European Single Access Point. These goals are in line with its wider simplification and burden reduction initiative launched in 2025. ESMA's data and digital work will be guided by the roadmaps under both strategies. By 2029, ESMA expects to converge the two into one unified strategy.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its non-binding principles for risk-based supervision to promote a common and effective EU-wide supervisory culture and strengthen the EU single market. These principles apply to national competent authorities (NCAs) and ESMA when exercising direct supervision, covering the identification, assessment, prioritisation and mitigation of risks across all mandates (markets, entities and products) within an authority's remit. While acknowledging that different models for risk-based supervision exist, ESMA introduces an entity-based approach that can be adapted to other models (such as transaction or product-based approaches) depending on an authority's supervisory processes. The principles are intended to guide supervisory practice rather than prescribe a single supervisory model or operate as a full manual. As non-binding guidance, they are intended to be implemented practically under the relevant authority's existing framework. ESMA and NCAs will work together to advance implementation and promote high quality supervisory outcomes for market participants.

The Bank of England Financial Policy Committee (FPC) has issued its formal response (dated 19 December) addressing HM Treasury's November remit and recommendations for 2025/26. The FPC welcomes the recommendations made, confirming alignment with the government's aim of supporting sustainable economic growth while ensuring financial stability. It reflects on its recent work and refers to its assessment in the December Financial Stability Report (FSR) on the resilience of the UK financial system. It states that global macroeconomic and geopolitical risks continue to pose vulnerabilities, though, UK banks remain well capitalised, and results from the 2025 Bank Capital Stress Test show that the banking system could continue to support the economy even if conditions were materially worse than expected.

The FPC also reports progress on its medium term priorities including operational resilience, climate related financial risks and cryptoassets, noting that it remains alert to new and emerging risks which will remain a focus in the upcoming years. It also welcomes plans for a system wide exploratory scenario exercise on private markets, expected to be completed by the end of the year. As requested by HMT, the FPC also provides an update on areas where there is potential to increase the financial sector's ability to support sustainable economic growth, with conclusions set out in the FSR.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published a final report updating its guidelines on the equivalence of confidentiality and professional secrecy regimes in third countries. The amending guidelines: (i) expand the scope of the 2022 guidelines to include confidentiality and professional secrecy provisions under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation; (ii) reflect recent EBA equivalence assessments confirming that regimes in Australia, China, Montenegro, Peru, Serbia and the UK are now deemed equivalent to EU standards; and (iii) streamline definitions, update legal references and clarify how competent authorities should apply the framework when sharing information or engaging in supervisory cooperation. The EBA states that while these guidelines inform opinions on equivalence, they do not address the need for cooperation arrangements or participation in supervisory colleges. The guidelines will be translated into all official EU languages and published on the EBA website. Competent authorities are required to report on whether they comply two months after the publication of the translations.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published Handbook Notice 136, outlining amendments to the FCA Handbook resulting from the following statutory instruments:

• Dispute Resolution: Complaints Sourcebook (Motor Finance Complaints Handing) Instrument 2025, which entered into force on 5 December 2025. This extends the deadline for firms to send final responses to certain motor finance complaints.
• Consumer Composite Investments Instrument 2025, entering into force on 6 April 2026 and 7 May 2026. This introduces a new product information regime to help consumers understand the investment products they are buying.
• Complaints Reporting Instrument 2025, entering into force on 7 April and 31 December 2026.  The changes seek to improve the quality of reported data allowing the FCA to detect consumer harm more quickly while also reducing firm burden.
• Simplification: Conduct and Product Governance of Non-Investment Insurance Business and Other Amendments Instrument 2025, which entered into force on 9 December 2025.
• Non-Financial Misconduct (No 2) Instrument 2025, entering into force on 1 September 2026. This introduces rules and guidance on non-financial misconduct to raise standards, increase accountability and build trust in financial services.

Read more.

HM Treasury (HMT) has issued its response to the House of Lords Financial Services Regulation Committee's reply regarding the UK government's earlier response to the Committee's report "Growing Pains: Clarity and Culture Change Required". The UK government acknowledges the Committee's concerns and reaffirms its commitment to embedding secondary objectives for growth and competitiveness, underpinned by the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy. It highlights key milestones such as the UK Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) consumer duty review, the joint FCA-PRA scale-up unit, and research on disruptive technologies, alongside measures to streamline authorisations and support innovation. The letter responds to the Committee's concerns around: evidence linking financial sector growth to the wider economy; SME financing; regulator-government relationships; growth and performance metrics; and international comparisons. The government acknowledges challenges in producing robust international cost comparisons. A further update from HMT is expected in the summer of 2026.

The Council of the EU has adopted conclusions on simplifying the EU's financial services regulation as part of its broader competitiveness agenda. The Council emphasises that simplification should reduce unnecessary complexity and administrative burdens, particularly for SMEs, without undermining financial stability or core regulatory pillars such as capital requirements, consumer protection, and anti-money laundering frameworks. Key principles include eliminating duplicative or outdated provisions, improving coherence across legislation, streamlining reporting requirements, and ensuring robust stakeholder consultation and impact assessments.

The Council calls on the European Commission (EC) to swiftly propose ambitious simplification packages, review existing legislation and explore technological tools like AI to enhance efficiency. It also urges better coordination among EU institutions and supervisory authorities, including the European Supervisory Authorities and the EU's Anti-Money Laundering Authority, and calls on them to adopt a simpler and more targeted approach to developing regulatory technical standards, implementing technical standards, guidelines, etc. The EC is invited to report back on progress with simplification initiatives, including preparing a report, scheduled for 2026, assessing the overall state of the banking system in the Single Market and evaluating its competitiveness.

The Financial Services Regulatory Initiatives Forum has published the ninth edition of the Regulatory Initiatives Grid. This sets out the regulatory pipeline for the next two years, outlining 124 live initiatives which is a 13% reduction since the last grid was published. Key priorities include implementing Basel 3.1 standards, advancing the strong and simple prudential framework and reforms to the prospectus regime and wholesale markets review. Innovation-focused measures cover stablecoin regulation, the national payments vision, and development of a UK captive insurance regime, while consumer-focused reforms include the advice guidance boundary review and regulation of buy now pay later products. The Grid also highlights efforts to streamline regulatory processes, with 45 joint initiatives across sectors, and provides indicative timelines for consultations and implementation through 2027. Separate press releases announcing the Grid have also been published by the UK Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England.