The Financial Markets Standards Board has published its 2026 workplan. The workplan covers a wide range of areas in relation to wholesale financial markets, and in 2026 the Board sets out the following focus topics:

• In relation to market practices, work is being progressed on pre-hedging, grey market trading, market quotation mechanisms, conduct risks around risk management transactions for new issuances, and price discovery.
• In relation to electronic trading and technology, the relevant committee will be looking at market-facing applications of AI and potentially the application of model risk management frameworks to electronic trading algorithms.

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The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published an updated webpage on its consultation paper proposing a framework for introducing an equity consolidated tape in the UK, operated by a consolidated tape provider. The FCA confirms that the deadline for comments on the proposals has been extended to 13 February. It also published a separate note outlining the cost benefit analysis methodology, following a request for further information.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has announced the launch of its first selection procedure for a consolidated tape provider (CTP) for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives. ESMA encourages interested entities to register and submit their requests to participate by 11 February. The CTP aims to enhance transparency and efficiency in the OTC derivatives market by consolidating post-trade data from trading venues and other contributors into a single, continuous electronic stream. This consolidated view of market activity is intended to support more accurate and timely information access, improve price discovery and contribute to EU initiatives such as the Savings and Investment Union.

The CTP will collect and disseminate OTC derivatives data in line with ESMA's proposals set out in its final report on transparency for derivatives. Regarding next steps, ESMA will assess the requests it receives against the applicable exclusion and selection criteria and invite successful candidates to submit full applications. Any queries during the application phase will be handled through the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, which also has the contract notice and procurement document available. A reasoned decision on the selected CTP is expected by early July, after which the chosen provider will operate the OTC derivatives tape for a five‑year term, subject to ESMA authorisation and supervision.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a new direction with an explanatory statement (published later, on 2 January) under Article 28a(9) of the UK Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) regarding its direction on the derivatives trading obligation (DTO). The direction, originally issued on 31 December 2024, permits firms which would otherwise be subject to the UK DTO trading with EU DTO clients to execute trades on EU venues provided certain conditions are met. The statement confirms that the direction is extended for a further six months, remaining effective until 30 June. The FCA states that this decision satisfies the conditions under Article 28(1)(a) of MiFIR, reflecting the ongoing need to prevent or mitigate market disruption caused by the absence of mutual equivalence between the UK and EU. It also satisfies Article 28a(1)(b) as the measure advances the FCA's operational objectives under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023. A further review will take place at the end of the next six-month period, after which, if the direction is still in force, the FCA will issue a new statement.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published policy statement PS25/24 finalising its revised approach to the ancillary activities test (AAT). The AAT determines when non financial firms trading commodity derivatives may rely on the ancillary activities exemption (AAE) instead of requiring investment firm authorisation for commodity derivatives or emission allowances trading that is ancillary to their main business.

HM Treasury made legislative changes by laying the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Order 2025, giving the FCA the power to set the rules defining the conditions under which firms can rely on the AAE. Following its July consultation, the FCA has finalised its proposals largely as consulted on. From 1 January 2027, firms will be able to qualify for the AAE by satisfying any one of three independent tests: (i) a new GBP3 billion annual threshold test based solely on OTC cash settled derivatives exposure (with exchange traded derivatives expressly excluded following industry feedback); (ii) a modified trading test; or (iii) a modified capital employed test. The trading and capital employed tests will retain their existing methodology for calculating these tests but will now be subject to a 50% threshold. Transitional relief will apply until 1 January 2028, and firms currently relying on the AAE are advised to familiarise themselves with the new conditions and prepare for annual calculations under the updated framework.

The Council of the EU and the European Parliament (EP) have reached a provisional political agreement on an updated retail investment strategy package to empower and protect consumers and increase competitiveness in the EU's financial markets. The package takes the form of a directive containing targeted amendments to a number of other EU directives in the area of financial services such as the Markets In Financial Instruments Directive (MIFID), the Solvency II Directive, the Directive For Undertakings For Collective Investment In Transferable Securities (UCITS) and the Alternative Investment And Managers Directive (AIFMD), and a regulation amending the Packaged Retail And Insurance-Based Investment Products (PRIIPs Regulation).

The Council of the EU and EP confirm that agreement has been reached in the following areas:

• Value for money – firms must identify and quantify all costs borne by investors related to the investment products they advise. Products failing to offer value for money should not be released onto the market and sold to retail customers, and who should be able to compare investment products' costs, charges, performance and non-financial benefits.
• Inducements – a new test will be introduced to ensure firms act in the clients' best interests, enabling them to distinguish inducements from other fees.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its final report under the MiFIR Review on derivatives transparency, package orders, and the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives consolidated tape input and output data. The final report includes ESMA's assessment and feedback received to the MiFIR Review consultation package published in April, covering the new MiFIR transparency regime for exchange-traded derivatives (ETD) and OTC derivatives and the corresponding amendments to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/583 2 on transparency for non-equity instruments ("RTS 2").

Based on the new scope of derivatives subject to transparency, it sets the approach for the liquidity determination relevant for pre-trade waivers and introduces amendments to post-trade transparency fields and flags.

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The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published the findings from its multi-firm review of how wholesale banks deliver best execution in UK listed cash equities. The webpage highlights good practices and areas for improvement on issues including scope of best execution, governance and oversight, monitoring and management information, and managing conflicts of interest, with examples for firms to benchmark against. Although the review focuses on UK-listed cash equities, some findings are relevant to other products. The review, covering eight wholesale banks, found stronger practices compared to the FCA's 2014 thematic review, including improved monitoring of best execution and efforts to address examples of poor outcomes. The FCA also found no evidence that internalisation harmed client outcomes. However, the quality of management information (MI) to support senior management oversight was inconsistent, ranging from comprehensive to being either too high-level or overly complex.

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The European Commission (EC) has published a Communication to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Central Bank, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on further development of capital market integration and supervision within the Union, announcing a set of major legislative reforms. The package seeks to address obstacles to innovation and barriers to integration resulting from divergent rules, duplicative requirements and inconsistent supervision. The EC proposes a suite of amendments to key EU financial services and capital markets legislation in a package described as a central component of the savings and investments union (SIU), specifically a:

• Regulation which will amend: (i) the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) Regulation; (ii) the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR); (iii) the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MIFIR); (iv) the Central Securities Depositories Regulation (CSDR); (v) the Distributed Ledger technology Pilot Regulation (DLTPR); (vi) the Markets in cryptoasset Regulation (MiCAR); and (vi) the Cross-Border Distribution of Funds Regulation (CBDR). It also includes targeted amendments, in line with the changes proposed to the ESMA regulation aimed at making EU supervision more efficient, to: (a) the Central Counterparties Recovery and Resolution Regulation (CCPRRR); (b) the Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR); (c) the Credit Ratings Agency Regulation (CRAR); (d) the Benchmark Regulation (BMR); (e) the simple, transparent and standardised (STS) securitisation Regulation; (f) the European Green Bond Regulation (EuGB Regulation); (g) the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) rating Regulation.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has announced that it will launch a Common Supervisory Action (CSA) with national competent authorities in 2026 to review compliance with MiFID II conflicts of interest requirements in the distribution of financial instruments. The press release confirms the CSA will examine how firms identify, prevent and manage conflicts when offering investment products to retail clients. It will focus on: (i) the possible influence of staff remuneration and inducements on what products are offered to investors; (ii) the role of digital platforms in product selection, and whether this serves the investor's best interests; and (iii) the management of conflicts between firm profitability and the needs of retail investors.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published policy statement PS25/17 on removing the systematic internaliser regime for bonds, derivatives, structured finance products and emission allowances from 1 December.

Following feedback from its July consultation, the FCA is adopting all proposals as consulted on, except for the second proposed change to the price waiver. That change would have allowed a trading venue to derive the price from the best bid and offer prices on the lit order book where reference price orders are placed, which would allow placing mid-price dark orders below large in scale on lit order books. The FCA remains minded to implement this change after gathering further information to ensure the change does not weaken the information content of post-trade data. The FCA expects to finalise a proposal on post-trade transparency in its forthcoming consultation on equity transparency. Meanwhile, from 20 March 2026, trading venue operators will be permitted to use a broader set of prices from a wider set of venues when crossing orders for equities under the reference price waiver.

The FCA also confirms the repeal of the rule that prevents investment firms from carrying out matched principal trading on their multilateral trading facilities and from operating an organised trading facility in the same entity for which they are a systematic internaliser from 30 March 2026.

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The European Commission has adopted a Delegated Regulation amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/567 as regards regulatory technical standards (RTS) on equity transparency requirements under the Markets in Financial Instrument Regulation (MiFIR). The amendments follow the EBA's final report in December 2024 and reflect changes introduced by the MiFIR review and the amendments to the second Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II). The changes cover: (i) the determination of what constitutes a liquid market for equity instruments, with liquidity assessment now based on the "market capitalisation" criterion, replacing the previous "free-float" criterion; (ii) the obligation to provide market data on a "reasonable commercial basis"; (iii) the size specific to the financial instrument for the purposes of obligations for systematic internalisers; and (iv) the definition of, and disclosure for, post-trade risk reduction (PTRR) services. The Delegated Regulation will be subject to scrutiny by the Council of the EU and the European Parliament. If neither object, it will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ). It will enter into force on the third day following publication in the OJ, with Article 1, point (4), applying from 23 August 2026.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published consultation paper CP25/32 setting out proposals to improve the UK transaction reporting regime under the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR). HM Treasury previously confirmed that assimilated law (law inherited from the EU at the point of Brexit) in this area will be repealed, enabling the FCA to deliver a more streamlined framework aimed at reducing the regulatory burden on firms and increasing the FCA's ability to fight financial crime and protect market integrity. In particular, the FCA is looking to replace the regulatory technical standards in Commission Delegated Regulations (EU) 2017/590 (RTS 22), 2017/585 (RTS 23), and 2017/580 (RTS 24) with new rules in its Market Conduct Sourcebook (MAR). Key proposals are set out below.

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The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published consultation paper CP25/31 outlining a proposed framework for introducing an equity consolidated tape (CT) in the UK, operated by a consolidated tape provider (CTP). The proposals are linked to broader considerations on the structure and transparency of UK equity markets in CP25/20. The FCA plans a separate consultation on the equity transparency regime in 2026.For the purposes of this consultation, the FCA states an equity CT collates and distributes market data, such as prices and trade volumes, across trading venues and over-the-counter transactions, providing a comprehensive view of equity markets. In the paper, "equity" is defined as including shares, exchange-traded funds, depositary receipts, certificates and similar instruments.  

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The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Order 2025 has been laid before the UK Parliament, accompanied by an explanatory memorandum. This follows the draft version laid in July. The order amends the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 (RAO) to reform the ancillary activities exemption (AAE). The AAE allows firms dealing in commodity derivatives, emissions allowances or related derivatives as an ancillary activity to be exempt from seeking investment firm authorisation. The order introduces changes giving the FCA a new rule-making power to set criteria for determining when such trading qualifies for exemption. The current AAE is replaced with a more proportionate regime offering two options: (i) assessing whether the activity is ancillary to the firm's main business at group level; or (ii) checking whether the activity is below an annual monetary threshold determined by the FCA. The order also makes consequential amendments allowing the FCA to direct how firms provide calculation data under both tests and removes references to assimilated law that FCA rules will replace.

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The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a statement following its September update regarding the legal challenge to its decision to award the bond consolidated tape provider contract. The FCA confirms it has applied to the High Court to lift the suspension on awarding the contract to Etrading Software. If granted, this will allow the FCA to proceed with signing the contract while defending the ongoing legal challenge, which it considers meritless. The FCA emphasises that delivering the tape's benefits promptly is in the public interest and confirms that its formal defence to the legal challenge will be submitted by the end of the week.

Five technical standards supplementing the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation enabling the creation of the consolidated tape have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ):

• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1143 regarding regulatory technical standards (RTS) on the authorisation and organisational requirements for approved publication arrangements (APAs) and approved reporting mechanisms (ARMs), and on the authorisation requirements for consolidated tape providers, and repealing Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/571.
• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1155 regarding RTS specifying the input and output data of consolidated tapes, the synchronisation of business clocks and the revenue redistribution by the consolidated tape provider for shares and exchange traded funds, and repealing Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/574 from 2 March 2026. Articles 11 to 16 will apply from 2 March 2026.

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The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published Handbook Notice 134, outlining amendments to the FCA Handbook resulting from the following statutory instruments:

• (i) Markets in Financial Instruments (Transfer of MiFID Organisational Regulation) Instrument 2025; (ii) Technical Standards (Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation) (Organisational Requirements) Instrument 2025; and (iii) Commodity Derivatives (Position Limits, Position Management and Perimeter) (No 2) Instrument 2025. These instruments mainly entered into force on 23 October, with other parts coming into force on 12 January 2026 and 19 January 2026. The instruments make changes relating to the MiFID Organisational Regulation. The FCA is keeping the substance of the MiFID Organisational Regulation requirements the same without any policy or scope changes. Most of the changes that have been made are to reflect its Handbook drafting style and to clarify drafting where possible.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its final report with draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) that establish an EU code of conduct for issuer-sponsored research. The RTS supplement the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, as amended by the Listing Act Directive. Under the revised framework, research distributed by investment firms to clients or potential clients that is paid for, fully or partially, by an issuer must be labelled as "issuer-sponsored research". No substantive changes have been made following the December 2024 consultation. A feedback statement is included in the final report in section 3. While the code is non-binding, ESMA emphasises that all research providers (whether independent or not) must comply with the EU code of conduct if they wish their analysis to be labelled and distributed as "issuer-sponsored research", otherwise it would have to be labelled as a marketing communication. The final draft RTS have been submitted to the European Commission for adoption, who has three months to decide whether to adopt them. If adopted, they will apply from 6 June 2026.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its second consolidated report on sanctions and measures imposed by national competent authorities in Member States in 2024. The report reveals that over 970 administrative sanctions and measures were issued in financial sectors under ESMA's remit, with the total aggregated value of administrative fines exceeding EUR100 million, an increase compared to 2023. The highest number of administrative sanctions and measures were imposed under the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR), the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) and the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR).

The highest amounts of administrative fines for 2024 were imposed under MAR. The more granular data shows that over 60% of all administrative sanctions and measures imposed in 2024 were administrative fines, and 10% were issued using settlement procedures. ESMA also reports that no sanctions or measures were imposed under the Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR) or the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR), while a measure was issued for the first time under the European Crowdfunding Service Providers Regulation. ESMA highlights discrepancies in sanctioning powers across jurisdictions, including differences in the amounts of fines, number and types of sanctions and measures, and use of settlements.

The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Commencement No.11 and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2025 were made and have been published. These Regulations are the eleventh commencement regulations made under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (FSMA 2023). The Regulations continue the process of revoking certain pieces of retained EU law relating to financial services and restating them into UK domestic law, including through regulator-made rules. You may like to read our article "A boost for UK Financial Services" for further information.

In particular, these Regulations revoke the following:

• The UK MiFID Organisational Regulation (UK Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/565, otherwise known as the UK MiFID Org Regulation), on 23 October.
• The UK Prospectus Regulation ((EU) 2017/1129), on 19 January 2026.
• The UK PRIIPs Regulation (1286/2014), on 6 April 2026.

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The European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) has issued a second public statement providing transitional guidance on the application of revised provisions under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) and Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) review. Key updates include the extension of position management controls to derivatives on emission allowances, a new weekly position reporting obligation for trading venues options and the removal of the quantitative test for Systematic Internaliser designation. The single volume cap mechanism (VCM) has now replaced the previous double VCM, with the first calculation results published on 9 October. Revised transparency rules for bonds, structured finance products, emission allowances and equity instruments will apply from 2 March 2026, with certain RTS 1 provision taking effect 20 days post-publication in the Official Journal of the EU.

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The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published policy statement PS25/13, finalising the transfer of firm-facing requirements from the UK version of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive Organisational Regulation (MiFID Org Reg) into the FCA Handbook. This follows the FCA's November 2024 consultation and Chapter 4 of Quarterly Consultation No 44 on the transfer of those requirements, as well as HM Treasury's publication of the Markets in Financial Instruments (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2025 (MiFIR Amendment Regulations), which restate certain definitions that are retained in domestic financial services law. The FCA is restating the MiFID Org Reg requirements without policy change, so firms may continue to follow existing practices. However, firms should update internal references accordingly to reflect the new location of the rules. The final rules are set out in the relevant statutory instruments included in the Annex to the policy statement.

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The UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has published final policy statement PS6/25, on the restatement of relevant firm-facing provisions from the UK version of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive Organisational Regulation (MiFID Org Reg) into the PRA Rulebook. This follows its April consultation on the transfer of those requirements, as well as HM Treasury's publication of the Markets in Financial Instruments (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2025 (MiFIR Amendment Regulations), which restate certain definitions that must be retained in domestic financial services law. The PRA rules contain no material changes to the MiFID Org Reg requirements. In response to consultation feedback, the PRA has, however, made two changes to its draft rules: (i) to improve clarity for firms, the PRA has included a transposition table to help firms navigate the relocation of the rules; and (ii) reinstated provisions from Article 25 of the MiFID Org Reg relating to supervisory oversight but replacing the term "supervisory function" with "governing body" instead, which is defined in the Rulebook to reflect UK practice. The final rules and technical standards, set out in the statutory instruments appended to the policy statement, are expected to take effect on 23 October, subject to HM Treasury's commencement order to revoke the MiFID Org Reg.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published updated reporting instructions and XML schema (version 1.2.0) for weekly commodity derivatives position reporting under MiFID II. The changes reflect amendments to ITS 4, as outlined in ESMA's final report on proposed amendments to MiFID II technical standards in relation to commodity derivatives. The amendments are in response to changes introduced by the MiFID II review, submitted to the European Commission in December 2024 and currently pending adoption. Beyond the changes directly originating from MiFID II, such as the requirement to publish two weekly reports and the exclusion of (spot) emission allowances from position reporting, the update also introduces harmonisation of reporting units for energy derivatives. The new schema and instructions will apply from 1 April 2026, after which reporting entities must use version 1.2.0 exclusively.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published consultation paper CP25/25 (CP), alongside a press release, setting out its proposed regulatory framework for cryptoasset activities under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA). This follows HM Treasury's (HMT) draft statutory instrument (SI) to bring qualifying cryptoasset activities within the scope of the Regulated Activities Order 2001 (RAO) and under the FCA's remit. Qualifying cryptoasset activities will include issuing qualifying stablecoins, safeguarding qualifying cryptoassets and specified investment cryptoassets, operating a qualifying cryptoasset trading platform (CATP), intermediation and staking. Firms and individuals undertaking these activities will require FCA authorisation before operating by way of business in the UK.

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The Markets in Financial Instruments (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2025 have been made and an explanatory memorandum published. The Regulations form part of the continued process to repeal and replace assimilated EU financial services law following Brexit. Specifically, these Regulations will restate, with appropriate modifications, key definitions from the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/565 (MiFID Org Regulation) into UK law. The main affected legislation includes the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 Regulated Activities Order 2001. Clarificatory changes are also made to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Recognition Requirements for Investment Exchanges and Clearing Houses) Regulations 2001 and the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Markets in Financial Instruments) Regulations 2017, and related cross references are updated in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005.

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Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1768 and Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/884 have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ), extending the scope of rules on fines and fees for data reporting service providers (DRSPs) to include consolidated tape providers (CTPs). Previously, these rules applied only to two types of DRSPs: approved publication arrangements and approved reporting mechanisms. The amendments align with the EU's review of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and Regulation, which aims to improve market data transparency and support the emergence of CTPs in the EU.

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The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published the findings from its multi-firm review of principal trading firms' compliance with the detailed organisational requirements for algorithmic trading set out under the UK Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, specifically those outlined in the associated regulatory technical standards known as RTS 6. The review reveals progress in governance, notably in the quality of self-assessments and validation processes, but also exposes weaknesses such as outdated or incomplete policies, poor documentation, and inconsistent compliance oversight. While many firms demonstrated strong practices in maintaining algorithm inventories, such as detailed records outlining each algorithm's objective, ownership, market usage, and associated risk parameters, in some cases, the algorithmic inventory did not specify the individuals who were approved to operate the algorithm. Deployment protocols were generally formalised, with clear accountability and multi-layered approval processes, especially for new market entries or material changes. However, some firms had outdated policies or lacked clarity on what constituted a material change.

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The European Commission (EC) has published a draft delegated regulation amending Delegated Regulation 2017/567 as regards the obligation to provide market data on a reasonable commercial basis, the determination of what constitutes a liquid market for equity instruments, and the definition of and disclosure for post-trade risk reduction (PTRR) services under the markets in financial instruments regulation (MiFIR).

The proposed amendments follow and seek to reflect the MiFIR reform aimed at enhancing data transparency, removing obstacles to the emergence of consolidated tapes, optimising the trading obligations, and prohibiting receiving payment for order flow and parallel amendments to MiFID II.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a press release to confirm that, effective from October, the EU will transition from the current double volume cap (DVC) mechanism to a single volume cap mechanism (VCM) as part of the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) Review. Under the new regime, trading under the reference price waiver will be capped at 7% of the total EU trading volume over the preceding 12 months for each equity and equity-like instrument. If this threshold is exceeded, trading venues must suspend the waiver for the affected instrument for three months, based on data published by ESMA under the new VCM webpage. To streamline compliance, VCM calculations will rely on transaction data collected by national competent authorities, and the DVC reporting system will be decommissioned in January 2026. ESMA has submitted amendments to the relevant regulatory technical standard, known as RTS 3, for adoption to reflect these changes, although the VCM transition will proceed regardless of the RTS 3 adoption timeline. ESMA advises interested parties to prepare for the new requirements, with the first publication of the VCM calculation results expected on 9 October.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published Market Watch 82, outlining supervisory findings on transaction reporting under the UK's Markets in Financial Instruments regime. The FCA focuses on three key areas: (i) remedial timelines, where the FCA observed persistent inefficiencies in firms' operational frameworks, including delays in remediation caused by weak governance, fragmented internal processes and insufficient resourcing; (ii) back reporting, with case studies illustrating common causes of delayed back reporting, such as poor data governance and adverse impacts on business-as-usual operations; and (iii) breach notifications, where the FCA provides a table, summarising its supervisory observations of issue descriptions, root cause analysis and governance disclosures while also setting out best practices. The FCA confirms it will continue to monitor the quality of breach notifications closely.

The draft Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Mutual Recognition Agreement) (Switzerland) Regulations 2025 have been laid before Parliament and published with a draft explanatory memorandum. The Regulations seek to implement the UK's commitments under the Berne Financial Services Agreement (BFSA), signed with Switzerland in December 2023. The BFSA is an outcomes-based mutual recognition agreement covering a range of wholesale financial services, such as asset management, banking, investment services, insurance and financial market infrastructure, as well as investment services to high-net-worth and sophisticated individuals.

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The OTC Derivatives Risk Mitigation and Central Counterparties (Equivalence) (Switzerland) Regulations 2025 have been laid before Parliament and published with an explanatory memorandum. The Regulations, made on 16 July, grant equivalence to Switzerland's regulatory regimes for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives and central counterparties (CCPs). The equivalence decision enables UK firms to rely on Swiss risk mitigation standards for OTC derivative contracts, subject to certain conditions being met, and allow Swiss CCPs to provide clearing services in the UK, subject to the CCP being recognised by the Bank of England (BoE). This removes duplicative regulatory requirements and supports cross-border financial market access as expressed under the Berne Financial Services Agreement (BFSA). The equivalence determinations were made following assessments by HM Treasury, with input from the UK Financial Conduct Authority, UK Prudential Regulation Authority and BoE, and are part of the UK's broader move to replace EU-inherited equivalence regimes with tailored Overseas Recognition Regimes. The Regulations enter into force on 1 January 2026.  The draft Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Mutual Recognition Agreement) (Switzerland) Regulations 2025, which have also been laid before Parliament, will implement other aspects of the BFSA. You may like to watch our webinar of 3 July in which our lawyers discuss the BFSA.

The UK FSMA 2000 (Markets in Financial Instruments) Amendment Regulations 2025 have been laid. The regulations extend the UK Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) powers of direction to a new category of derivative, referred to as "applicable OTC commodity derivatives". This encompasses commodity derivatives traded over-the-counter that would otherwise fall outside scope of the FCA's powers because they were outside the definition of financial instrument, as specified in part 1 of schedule 2 to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001. The new term "applicable OTC commodity derivative" will replace the existing term "over the counter contract" in regulation 27 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Markets in Financial Instruments) Regulations 2017, which is being removed pursuant to paragraph 47 of schedule 2 to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023. Accordingly, the amendment will come into force immediately after the 2023 Act changes are in force to ensure the changes are aligned.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a statement on its work to date reforming the UK capital markets, and what lies ahead in terms of consultations and developments expected later this year and in 2026. The statement notes the recent work carried out by the FCA in respect of the financial markets, and refers to those market reforms highlighted in the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer's speech delivered at Mansion House on 15 July, including the landmark reforms to the advice guidance boundary on the new regulated activity of targeted support, proposals to modernise the redress system and consultations on reforming the Senior Managers and Certification Regime.

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The UK Financial Conduct Authority has announced plans to review its client categorisation rules to unlock more investment opportunities for wealthy investors and support capital markets. The review will focus on maintaining proportionality and supporting economic growth by modernising the client classification regime, providing greater clarity and confidence for firms and forming part of a broader strategy to enhance the competitiveness of the UK's financial services sector. The FCA will consult on the elective professional client categorisation later this year.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published consultation paper CP25/20 on the systematic internaliser (SI) regime for bonds and derivatives. The consultation builds on the November 2024 final policy statement which introduced new bond and derivative transparency rules for trading venues and discussed the future of the SI regime. Given the removal of the pre-trade transparency from SI's obligations in bonds and derivatives, the FCA is now consulting on the SI regime and continued alignment between the transparency and SI regimes, along with additional proposals aimed at enhancing the functioning of UK markets.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has announced the selection of Ediphy (fairCT), a fintech company, as the first consolidated tape provider for bonds in the EU. The decision marks a significant step towards establishing consolidated tapes in the EU, contributing to the development of the Savings and Investment Union and enhancing capital markets in Europe. Ediphy (fairCT), was selected following a thorough assessment process against the criteria listed in the EU Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation. The firm met all eligibility requirements and achieved the highest overall score on the award criteria. ESMA now invites Ediphy (fairCT) to apply for formal authorisation without delay, after which it will operate the CTP for bonds for five years under ESMA's direct supervision.

HM Treasury (HMT) has published a policy note and draft statutory instrument on the ancillary activities exemption, which is an exemption (originally introduced in the revised EU Markets in Financial Services Directive) from investment firm authorisation requirements for firms that trade commodity derivatives or emission allowances as an ancillary activity to their main business. The exemption is intended for non-financial firms such as energy and other commodity trading firms which are active in both physical trading and financial instrument trading. Currently, firms must determine their eligibility for the exemption and ancillary activities test (AAT), which is burdensome and expensive for firms.

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The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a consultation on its proposed revised approach to the ancillary activities test (AAT). The AAT is the test that firms must conduct to determine whether they can use an exemption (originally introduced under the revised EU Markets in Financial Instruments Directive) from investment firm authorisation requirements for their commodity derivatives or emission allowances trading business which is as an ancillary activity to their main business. The FCA's consultation is published on the same day as HM Treasury announced its revised policy approach to the exemption and the AAT. This approach will give the FCA powers to make rules in relation to the AAT and to set a new annual threshold for activity below which a person can also use the ancillary activities exemption (AAE).

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The draft Markets in Financial Instruments (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2025 has been laid before the UK Parliament under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (FSMA 2023), together with a draft explanatory memorandum. The draft Regulations form part of the continued process to repeal and replace assimilated EU financial services law following Brexit. Specifically, these Regulations will restate key definitions from Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/565 (MiFID Org Regulation) into UK law, ahead of its revocation through a pending separate commencement instrument (as announced in the 2024 Mansion House speech). The MiFID Org Regulation sets out detailed organisational and conduct requirements for investment firms, including provisions on client categorisation, best execution, conflicts of interest, outsourcing and internal audit functions. These firm-facing obligations will be replaced by rules developed by the UK Financial Conduct Authority and the UK Prudential Regulation Authority, in line with the FSMA 2023 framework which delegates responsibility for detailed regulatory standards to the regulators. The draft Regulations also seek to modify definitions already within the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 to clarify terminology.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a press release sharing its view that the pre-trade controls that investment firms have implemented warrant further convergence. The EU Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) requires investment firms engaging in algorithmic trading to have effective systems and risk controls to ensure that its trading systems are resilient, have sufficient capacity, are subject to appropriate trading thresholds and limits, and prevent incorrect orders being sent. Those systems must also ensure that the trading systems cannot be used for market abuse or insider trading or other purposes contrary to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/589 further specifies the pre-trade controls that an investment firm must have in place to meet these MiFID II requirements.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has launched the first selection procedure for a consolidated tape provider (CTP) for shares and exchange-traded funds. The selection process will be guided by the regulatory technical standards adopted by the European Commission on 12 June, which will be used as the basis for the assessment of some criteria. The contract notice and procurement documents can be accessed via ESMA's EU Funding & Tenders Portal, with the deadline for participation requests being 25 July. ESMA will review the submitted requests against the exclusion and selection criteria and will invite the successful candidates to submit a formal application. ESMA aims to finalise the selection by the end of this year, with the successful applicant operating the CTP for five years under its supervision.

The European Commission has adopted a Commission Delegated Regulation to amend regulatory technical standards (RTS) on transparency requirements. The MiFIR Review revised the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation amending the pre- and post-transparency requirements for trading venues as regards equities and non-equities. The amendments took effect on 28 March 2024. The adopted Delegated Regulation has amended two RTS supplementing the MiFIR transparency requirements.

Firstly, the adopted Delegated Regulation amends Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/583 on transparency requirements for bonds, structured finance products (SFPs) and emission allowances by aligning the scope of the pre-transparency obligation with the MiFIR provisions, updating the transparency requirements for pre-trade transparency and recalibrating the post-trade requirements.

Secondly, the adopted Delegated Regulation amends Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/587 on transparency requirements for equities, including shares, depositary receipts, exchange-traded funds and certificates. Among other things, the amendments set out the details of pre-trade data to be made public, set pre-trade transparency requirements for systematic internalisers and prescribe the transactions that will be exempt from the share trading obligation due to characteristics that show that the transaction is not contributing to the price discovery process.

The European Commission (EC) has adopted a suite of technical standards for the development of consolidated tapes. The creation of consolidated tapes and the removal of obstacles to the development of consolidated tapes, were a key action point following the findings of the European MiFID/MIFIR review. The changes relate to technical standards for data reporting service providers, i.e. approved publication arrangements (APAs), approved reporting mechanisms (ARMs) and consolidated tape providers (CTPs). The technical standards adopted consist of implementing technical standards and three sets of regulatory technical standards, supplementing Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 (MIFIR).

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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has launched a call for evidence (CfE), accompanied by a press release, to gather input on the retail investor journey in capital markets under the revised EU Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II). The CfE aims to assess whether regulatory or non-regulatory barriers may discourage retail investor participation in capital markets. The CfE considers:

• Retail market trends, including the growing appeal of speculative products among younger investors and the rising influence of social media on investment decisions.
• Specific regulatory requirements under MiFID II, such as regulatory disclosures and assessment of suitability and appropriateness, which can impact retail investors.
• Additional areas such as the investor experience under the European crowdfunding framework and broader reflections on how to achieve the right balance between investor protection and enabling informed risk-taking.

ESMA has also published a summary of the CfE to facilitate responses by consumers and related organisations. The deadline for comments to the CfE is 21 July. ESMA will use the responses to assess, in Q3 2025, whether specific clarifications or regulatory adjustments are needed.

The European Commission has published its Omnibus IV legislative proposal, together with a press release, for a Directive amending the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) and the Critical Entities Resilience Directive to simplify various administrative requirements for small mid-cap enterprises (SMCs), in line with the mitigating measures already available for SMEs. SMEs are currently defined as companies with under 250 employees and an annual turnover of up to EUR50 million or a balance sheet total up to EUR43m, while SMCs are those that have outgrown the SME definition. The proposed amendments will simplify regulatory requirements and reduce administrative burdens for SMCs, in the interests of helping them to scale up.

The legislative proposal represents the fourth Omnibus simplification package, following Omnibus I and II on the simplification of sustainability reporting and due diligence rules, and Omnibus III on the simplification of the Common Agricultural Policy. The Omnibus IV proposals include: (i) the introduction of a new category of SMCs to capture enterprises that are up to three times the size of SMEs; (ii) simplified compliance obligations for SMCs, permitting them to provide product information in digital format; (iii) common specifications for companies to demonstrate compliance with EU rules in the absence of harmonised standards; and (iv) a simplification of record-keeping requirements in the General Data Protection Regulation.

The European Commission has adopted delegated regulations amending the rules for data reporting service providers (DRSP) fines and fees to include consolidated tape providers (CTPs) in scope. Previously, the relevant requirements had only been applied to two types of DRSPs: approved publication arrangements and approved reporting mechanisms. The amendments are in line with the changes brought in as a result of the EU MiFID/MiFIR review changes which focussed on enhancing market data transparency and removing obstacles to the emergency of CTPs in the EU.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its final report providing technical advice to the European Commission (EC) on changes made by the Listing Act to the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) and the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) in relation to small and medium enterprise (SME) growth markets. The Listing Act seeks to promote better access to public capital markets for EU companies, in particular SMEs, by simplifying requirements and reducing administrative burden. ESMA consulted on the advice in December 2024 and this final report includes feedback received in response to the consultation. Much of the MAR technical advice concerns the rules for disclosing inside information during a protracted process. It also covers the approach for identifying trading venues with a significant cross-border dimension under the new cross market order book mechanism (article 25a MAR). The MiFID technical advice concerns the category of multilateral trading facilities (MTF) labelled SME growth markets and the requirements that such an MTF (or MTF segment) must comply with under article 33 MiFID II. In giving its technical advice, ESMA suggests amendments to Commission Delegated Regulation 2017/565 (known as the MiFID Org Reg) or otherwise confirms its view where no amendments would be needed. The EC will adopt the delegated acts for which the technical advice was requested by July 2026.