Laura WilesThe House of Lords completed the fifth session of the report stage of the FSM Bill on 6 July. The debate included: the need for some recognition in the law of AI and technology developments; whether the FCA should be...
Category - Fintech & Innovation
Emma RadmoreBoE suggests AI “kill switch” needed
The BoE raised this week the potential need for an AI “kill switch”. The BoE is concerned about advanced AIs that drift from public policy objectives or amplify market volatility, particularly where multiple...
Katie SimmondsNew report looks at digital verification blueprint
A research report from The Global City looks at a digital verification orchestrator blueprint. This service would connect identity providers with organisations that need to verify people by enabling trusted, consent...
DRCF seeks views on consumer interest and AI
The DRCF is seeking views on: risks consumers feel they are exposed to and their attitude to risk in generative and agentic AI adoption (by 3 July); and the tools and framework that regulators and others have to manage...
PRA publishes annual report
The PRA’s annual report, published alongside the BoE’s, looks at the activities of the past year to support its regulatory objectives. The report includes summaries of the work on: Basel 3.1 implementation...
DRCF calls for views on authentication and trust
The Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum is calling for views on developments, opportunities and challenges associated with digital verification and synthetic media/deeptakes. The input will feed into its new series on...
FSM Bill completes third day
The FSM Bill has completed its third day in the Committee stage in the Lords, and will enter its fourth day on 1 July. At the first session, on 22 June, the Committee discussed several core conduct issues, including:...
FCA speaks on regulation in the age of AI
Nikhil Rathi – chief executive of the FCA – has delivered a speech on rethinking regulation in the age of AI at techUK’s Agents of Change: Generative and Agentic AI in Financial Services 2026 event...
FCA announces launch of climate scenarios regulatory sandbox
The FCA is launching a sandbox cohort testing innovative climate scenario tools and approaches. Firms and specialists who incorporate innovative approaches to climate scenarios and are ready to test their climate...
FSMB amendments grow before Committee stage
As at 17 June, the tabled amendments for discussion in Committee stage of the FSM Bill ran to 68 pages. Key submissions: aim to create a debate on what the new look consumer credit regulatory regime will look like and...
Wholesale Digital Markets Champion ToR
The Government has published the Terms of Reference for what Chris Woolard, the appointed Wholesale Digital Markets Champion, will focus on. Specifically, he will: establish a cross-industry taskforce; report on how UK...
FCA updates on research themes
The FCA has outlined the four themes that dictate the research it does – growth, wholesale markets, helping consumers and regulation – with questions around financial crime having a place in all of them...
FSB consults on responsible AI adoption
The Financial Stability Board is asking for views on a set of proposed sound practices to help financial institutions responsibly navigate AI adoption. It has proposed a set of 12 practices covering: governance;...
Committee stage for FSM Bill to start on 22 June
The Financial Services and Markets Bill had its second reading in the Lords on 8 June and has now been scheduled for the Committee stage starting from 22 June. At second reading, Lord Stockwood introduced the Bill for...
Treasury publishes AI Adoption Insights signatories
The Treasury has published the signatories to its AI Adoption Insights agreement, under which industry participants commit to sharing data and insights from their business to help develop the government’s...
Operational resilience group publishes frontier AI guidance
The Cross Market Operational Resilience Group (CMORG) has published its Firm Guidance for Frontier AI, consolidating a range of industry and public authority commentary on frontier AI models. These models –...
Committee report questions UK approach on stablecoins
A report from the Financial Services Regulation Committee raises concerns about how the UK proposes to regulate stablecoins. It is concerned both that the UK is lagging behind other jurisdictions in getting a regulatory...
FSM Bill to have second reading
The Financial Services and Markets Bill is scheduled to have its second reading in the House of Lords on 8 June.
FCA announces launch of UK Payments Initiative
The new UK Payments Initiative will pave the way for progress in open banking and commercial variable recurring payments. The UKPI is an industry led scheme that the FCA says will give people more choice on how and when...
BoE speaks on modernising money
Sarah Breedon has spoken at City Week on the BoE’s vision of the future of UK finance. She focused on how responsible adoption of tokenisation can be good for financial stability and will support sustainable...
Regulators seek views on tokenisation in wholesale markets
The BoE and FCA have set out their vision for how firms can adopt tokenisation and DLT, which they say has the potential to streamline wholesale markets. The regulators have listened to firms’ requests for more...
Michael LewisFCA opens “AI Input Zone” and asks for contributions
The FCA has reopened its AI Input Zone which forms part of its AI Lab, and is asking for views on what “good” looks like in safe and responsible AI development. The FCA wants to create a good and poor...
New challenge for agentic AI in ecommerce
Innovate Finance has announced a challenge set by Colibrix One, a payments infrastructure provider, and BitGN, a technology innovation organisation, challenging innovative firms to participate in a sandbox environment...
Tech firms urged to help fight fraud
The City of London Corporation is asking tech firms to help it support the development of digital verification services to help financial institutions continue to fight fraud. The digital verification service is...
Independent report recommends lead facilitator for open banking standards entity
The FCA has published an independent report from KPMG on proposals for the establishing a future open banking standards-setting body. As multiple organisations have expressed interest in facilitating the design of the...
FCA publishes new rules on fund tokenisation
The FCA has published new rules aimed at supporting asset managers innovate with fund tokenisation. The new policy sets out how AFMs can use distributed ledger technology (DLT) to issue, transfer and maintain records of...
Innovate Finance looks at accelerating Unicorn landscape
A new Innovate Finance report, prepared with the Boston Consulting Group, looks at how the UK can secure its position as the world’s leading FinTech bug and help its top firms become globally competitive. Working...
Sheilah MackieGovernment announces payment regulation overhaul
As part of the UK’s Fintech week, the government has announced how it plans to modernise payment services regulation. There is no consultation yet, but the government will publish that soon. Its plans include:...
Stephen WilsonFCA shares “Innovation insights”
The FCA has published a report looking at what’s changing in the fintech markets, where the risks are shifting and what the FCA is doing to help firms. Its main conclusions are: funding is becoming more...
Regulators reject AI “wait and see” criticism
The Treasury Committee has published responses from the Treasury, FCA and BoE to its report on AI in financial services which warned of the risks of poor AI supervision. All three regulators reject the characterisation...
FCA publishes research on synthetic data and AML
The FCA has published a report summarising the work it has done with the Turing Institute and Plenitude Consulting on generating a synthetic dataset for use in fostering innovation in money laundering detection. The...
FOS responds on Mills Review
The FOS has published its response to the Mills Review on the impact of AI on retail financial services. It says: it has seen an increase in consumers using AI to make complaints and generally to correspond with the...
DRCF explores agentic AI
The Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum has published a paper exploring use of agentic AI and how UK regulatory frameworks can help realise its opportunities in a safe way. The paper looks at: defining agentic AI...
BoE publishes FPC record
The BoE has published the record from the Financial Policy Committee meeting on 27 March 2026. The meeting focused on the negative supply shock to the global economy resulting from the conflict in the Middle East...
BoE and PRA respond on AI in financial services
The BoE and PRA have responded to January’s letter on AI-driven innovation from the Chancellor, the DSIT and the DBT. The response explains the regulators’ plans to enable safe AI innovation within the...
Government publishes smart data strategy
The Government has published the Smart Data 2035 strategy, its vision for achieving a smart data economy for the UK. The document sets out the steps that will be taken between now and March 2029 to unlock growth...
The IA responds on Mills Review
The IA has responded to the Mills Review. It notes: investment managers will need to make their operating models evolve from periodic, manual assurance to continuous oversight of AI-driven decision-making; it is already...
FCA publishes work programme
The FCA has published its work programme for 2026/27 together with its perimeter report. The plans stress the FCA’s drive to be a smarter, more data driven regulator, and include detail on how it will use AI to...
FCA perimeter report calls for Government action
The FCA’s perimeter report has identified 15 areas where the FCA wants to see change from the government, including: removing self-certification for FPO purposes and raising the thresholds for the HNWI and...
FCA launches synthetic data AML solution tech sprint
The FCA is launching a Synthetic Data AML Solution Sprint exploring how synthetic data can support the development of innovative AML transaction monitoring solutions. The sprint aims to: Support innovation in AML...
Skills Commission finds AI skills increasingly in demand
A new report from the Financial Services Skills Commission shows that changes in technology are pressurising financial institutions to continually adjust their skills strategies, with skills gaps being a moving target...
UK-Japan financial regulatory forum reports on progress
The fourth meeting of the UK-Japan financial regulatory forum took place on 18 March between HM Treasury and the Japan Financial Services Agency. The forum discussed: digital finance, with the UK updating on its plans...
FCA announces stablecoin sandbox cohort
The FCA has selected Monee Financial Technologies, ReStabilise, Revolut and VVTX as the companies that will test how their stablecoin services work within its sandbox. It received 20 applications, and has chosen the 4...
FCA publishes video guides for payments and digital asset firm applications
The FCA has published a series of video guides aimed at helping payments and digital asset firms improve their applications for authorisation and registration. The guides cover: Expectations of the MLRO; Application...
BoE confirms fee increase for CCPs and CSDs
The BoE has finalised its fees for FMI supervision in 2025/26. Respondents had expressed concerns over the increase in fees for central counterparties (CCPs) and central securities depositories (CSDs) because of policy...
ECB speaks on digital euro
Piero Cipollone – Member of the Executive Board of the ECB – has delivered a speech on the digital euro at the Italian Parliamentary Committee on Inquiry into the Banking, Financial and Insurance System. The...
BoE publishes summary of AI roundtables
The BoE has published a summary of its three recent round tables with firms, at which it wanted to get a better understanding of the constraints firms are facing in adopting AI and what it can do do support responsible...
Government appoints HSBC as DIGIT pilot provider
The government has appointed HSBC as the platform provider for the Digital Gilt Instrument pilot issuance. The appointment follows a procurement process.
Sheldon Mills speaks on AI review
Sheldon Mills, speaking at the FCA’s Supercharged Sandbox Showcase event, has headlined his review. He stressed the review does not change the FCA’s regulatory approach but that it wants to understand what...
PSR speaks on delivering the National Payments Vision
David Geale – PSR managing director at and FCA executive director for payments and digital finance – has given a speech on delivering National Payments Vision at the Payments Regulation and Innovation Summit...
ASA criticises Coinbase ad
The ASA has instructed CB Payments Ltd trading as Coinbase that it must not show its set of Video on Demand and poster ads with a theme of “everything is just fine” in their current form again. The ads had a...
Ashley BorthwickTreasury appoints AI Champions to lead financial services roll out
HM Treasury has appointed two AI Champions to lead the rollout of AI in financial services. The new Champions are Harriet Rees and Rohit Dhawan, with both appointments taking effect from 20 January. Rees is Group Chief...
Lords Committee launches stablecoin inquiry
The Financial Services Regulation Committee has launched an inquiry into the growth and proposed regulation of UK stablecoins. The Committee is seeking submissions by 11 March 2026 on: How the global market for –...
FCA calls for input on its review of AI’s long-term impact on retail financial services
The FCA is calling for input on its review into the long-term impact of AI on retail financial services. The review builds on initiatives like AI sprints and AI lab, and the FCA’s confirmation that it does not...
Regulators give clarity on enforcement approach for open banking pricing models
The FCA and PSR have issued a joint statement on open banking pricing models, confirming that they will not currently be prioritising an investigation under the Competition Act into to centralised ‘access...
Treasury Select Committee warns of risks of poor AI supervision
The Treasury Select Committee has published its report on the use of AI by financial institutions. The report, summarising the results of an inquiry that started nearly a year ago, notes that AI and wider technology...
FCA encourages industry to share views on proposed open banking standards body
The FCA has written to trade associations on the processes for establishing a Future Entity, as part of the development of the open banking ecosystem. As set out in its 2025 feedback statement, the FCA expects Future...
FCA to hold stablecoin tech sprint
The FCA is holding a stablecoin tech-sprint in March 2026 to help shape policy and standards for future payments. The vent will focus on: Retail payments Cross-border payments E-commerce and B2B transactions Remittance...
PRA publishes 2026 supervisory plans
The PRA has published its supervisory priorities for 2026. Its main plans focus on streamlining supervision, so that periodic supervisory meetings and other activities will move to a two year cycle – an initiative...
Government publishes post-quantum cryptography roadmap
The Government has published the G7 Cyber Expert Group statement on advancing a coordinated roadmap for the transition to a post-quantum cryptography in the financial sector. The group has previously highlighted the...
Report looks at global norms for AI in financial services
A report by the International Regulatory Strategy Group has looked at consistency and disparities between emerging norms in the use of AI in financial services. Generally, it found that there is broad alignment on high...
FCA publishes highlights from Leeds Growth Sprint
The FCA has published the highlights from an event it held in Leeds in late October, in which the Chancellor and the FCA discussed various growth initiatives, such as the concierge, scale-up and PAS services, and...
Financial Policy Committee speaks on balancing innovation and financial stability risk
Randall Kroszner – external member of the Financial Policy Committee – has delivered a speech on promoting innovation while guarding against financial stability risk at the 20th High-level meeting on...
Regulators update Regulatory Initiatives Grid
The latest edition of the Regulatory Initiatives Grid updates on timelines for 124 live initiatives across the 9 organisations covered by the grid. The press release heralding the publication highlights the themes of:...
Regulators set out 2026 growth measures
The FCA has written to the Prime Minister setting out its growth measures planned for 2026. The ambitious package highlights that the FCA has met nearly all of the 50 commitments it promised to do this year, and that...
FCA publishes package of investment regulation reforms
The FCA has published its long-awaited decisions and further proposals on reforms to how it regulates the conduct of investment business. The package comprises: consultation on client categorisation and conflicts of...
Property (Digital Assets etc) Act gets Royal Assent
The Property (Digital Assets etc) Act has received Royal Assent and come into force on 2 December. It confirms that a “thing” – including something digital or electronic – can still be the object...
FCA announces AI “live testing”
The FCA has launched its AI Live Testing initiative, which firms in the financial sector ready to use AI in the financial markets can sign up to to get tailored support to hep with its development and use. The...
FPC publishes December update
The records of the FPC meetings on 25 November and 1 December note that: risks to financial stability have increased during 2025 for a variety of reasons, including fragmentation of trade and financial markets; many...
FCA speaks on balance between AI and humans
Dominic Holland of the FCA has spoken on how the financial markets must both harness the opportunities that AI and advanced analytics present while recognising that human expertise and judgement are key to making these...
UK and Singapore associations report on digital asset adoption
The IA and the Investment Management Association of Singapore has published a report on tokenised asset market opportunities and challenges. The report notes the current gap between technological innovation and...
FCA and MAS agree strategic partnership on AI
The FCA and the Monetary Authority of Singapore have agreed a new partnership on AI, which the regulators hope will enable innovative firms in the UK and Singapore to scale and operate effectively across markets, and...
BoE consults on systemic stablecoin regulation
The BoE is consulting on how it proposes to regulate sterling-denominated systemic stablecoins. It proposes: to allow issuers to hold up to 60% of backing assets in short-term UK government debt and for the other 40%...
FSSC asked to report on disruptive technology
HM Treasury has asked the Financial Services Skills Commission to produce a report on the skills needed to make sure the UK workforce can lead the way in digitisation, innovation and adoption. It wants the FSSC to...
FCA updates on sandbox firms
The FCA has now received over 630 applications to join the Regulatory Sandbox since it opened. The sandbox has been operating on an “always open” model since 2021 and has accepted 31 firms since then –...
Skills Commission launches research on AI’s impact on the financial services workforce
The Financial Services Skills Commission has launched research into how AI and disruptive technologies are likely to change the financial services workforce and its skills needs over the next 5-10 years. The research is...
Treasury Committee asks questions on AWS outage
The Treasury Committee has written to HM Treasury following the AWS web outage which disrupted several firms. Its main question is why HM Treasury has not yet designated AWS (or indeed any other major technology...
BoE outlines approach to AI, DLT and quantum computing
The BoE has published an outline of how it is working to make sure firms can innovate responsibly so use of new technologies can boost the UK’s productivity and economic growth while meeting its objectives to...
DRCF calls for views on Agentic AI and regulatory challenges
The Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum has published a call for views on the regulatory challenges that Agentic AI presents. It is particularly interested in: the key regulatory challenges firms are facing when...
FCA consults on fund tokenisation
The FCA is consulting on how it can support the development of fund tokenisation. As part of its wider roadmap for digital assets, the plans include: guidance on how to operate tokenised fund registers under FCA rules;...
AI providers respond to Treasury Committee
Following the Treasury Select Committee’s request to the largest providers of AI to the UK financial services sector for information on their services and their thoughts on service provision, it has now published...
FCA launches open finance tech sprints
In order to support the delivery of open finance, the FCA has launched 2 new TechSprints and announced a new partnership with Raidiam. The partnership with Raidiam follows the launch of its Smart Data Accelerator in...
G7 cyber experts publish group statement on AI and cybersecurity
The G7 Cyber Expert Group (CEG) has published a statement on AI and cybersecurity, outlining the rapid evolution of AI technologies and encouraging jurisdictions to monitor developments, promote public-private-academic...
FCA explores quantum computing opportunities in financial services
The FCA has published a research note on the potential applications of quantum computing in UK financial services. Key findings included: Quantum computing in financial services presents a national growth opportunity;...
UK Finance announces live pilot project on tokenised sterling deposits
UK Finance has announced a live pilot project to deliver the first UK transactions of tokenised sterling deposits. The pilot will run until mid-2026 and consider three use cases: Person-to-person payments via online...
UK and US launch financial services taskforce
The Chancellor and the US Treasury Secretary have unveiled a new Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future. The Taskforce will report via the Financial Regulatory Working Group on various recommendations to help...
Treasury Committee writes to AI providers
The Treasury Committee has written to 6 major providers of AI services, asking for thoughts on the impact AI will have on financial services and specific questions about the providers’ strategy and resilience, and...
FCA publishes “smart data accelerator” information
The FCA has published details of its smart data accelerator. It explains how the accelerator will build on its existing capabilities, and will have 4 main pillars – use case testing, policy testing, international...
FCA publishes feedback on AI Live Testing
The FCA is launching AI Live Testing, and has published feedback on its Engagement Paper on the potential benefits, opportunities and challenges raised by its proposals. On the whole, respondents welcomed the...
Wolfsberg Group publishes fiat-backed issuer account provision guidance
The Wolfsberg Group has published its guidance for firms on providing bank account services for fiat-backed stablecoin issuers. In principle, the Group thinks that most of the same financial crime risk management...
FCA seeks views on providing fair access to LSE data centre rooftop
The FCA is seeking views on whether the LSE Group and the landlord of the LSE data centre building have hindered competition for low latency connectivity services (LLCS) between certain trading venues. At present, only...
PSR publishes annual report and accounts for 2024/25
The PSR has published its annual report and accounts for 2024/25. Strategically, the PSR has been working towards integrating with the FCA. It has also been focussed on the NPV, innovation, competition and security, and...
BoE publishes guidance on requesting waivers and modifications from DSS rules
The BoE has published guidance on requesting waivers and modifications from its Digital Securities Sandbox rules. The document sets out the basic process the BoE will follow once a completed application is submitted...
BoE speaks on “multi-money” system
Sarah Breeden – Deputy Governor of Financial Stability at the BoE – has delivered a speech on innovation in money and payments at the Bank of England and Warwick Business School Innovation in Money and...
Innovate Finance writes to Home Office on digital ID
Innovate Finance has published its submission to the Home Affairs Committee pointing out the benefits of Digital ID for combatting financial crime, streamlining services and fostering innovation. The submission looks at...
FCA reports on synthetic data use and challenges
The FCA has published a report from its Synthetic Data Expert Group, set up in 2023, which looks at synthetic data used in financial services, the challenges associated with its use and how they can be mitigated. The...
FCA publishes cyber resilience insights
The FCA has published some thoughts on good and poor practice arising from discussions with the Cyber Coordination Group during 2024. Key topics were: the reconnection framework and third party management: firms are...
FCA and ICO set out thoughts on Open Finance and Smart Data
The Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum has published the joint views of the FCA and the ICO on the technologies that are shaping Open Finance and the regulatory questions stemming from its development. APIs are likely to remain key to Open Finance and Smart Data as they facilitate real time, secure and trusted data exchange. So common standards and strong interoperability across sectors and providers will be essential. Another key driver could be AI which has the potential to carry out many key chores including automating data cleaning and preparation, enhance fraud detection, assess creditworthiness, deliver advice and recommendations and help consumers to open accounts and switch products.� However, with that comes risks, not least addressing questions around automated decision-making, transparency and explainability.
There is also the potential for DLT and smart contracts to play a role, which could, for example, automate administrative tasks, improve data integrity and security and track the flow of data for easier auditing. But, again, there are risks, such as it being potentially difficult to revoke access to or correct data, and it may be unclear who is responsible if things go wrong.
More generally, the key regulatory issues are:
balancing evolution of technology with fostering trust in new products and services and delivering good outcomes for consumers;
organisations ensuring they consider which lawful basis for processing data is most appropriate to enable the required data sharing;
what effective data minimisation would look like;
achieving transparency and consumer understanding when AI is used;
the role of regulators; and
embedding trust.
Mansion House speech supports Leeds Reforms
The Chancellor’s Mansion House speech, delivered in the evening of 15 July, highlighted many of the Leeds reforms, and set out the Chancellor’s key priorities. She highlighted: for capital raising, recent changes to the...
Government announces “Leeds reforms”
After the Edinburgh reforms, we now have the Leeds reforms! The Government has announced an ambitious package of measures to attract inward investment into the UK and financial services businesses. Rachel Reeves announced the UK’s first Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness sector plan. The plans include:
giving consumers support to invest;
create good skilled jobs;
encouraging banks to offer investment opportunities to people with cash in low-interest accounts;
encouraging the industry to highlight to consumers the opportunity to invest when they can – the Government says that, based on current trends, if consumers move �2,000 from low interest accounts into stocks and shares, they could be over �9,000 better off in 20 years’ time;
the BoE will allow more lending at over 4.5 times a buyer’s income and simplified FCA Rules, if adopted, will make remortgaging easier. The changes will also allow the Nationwide to make its “Helping Hands” scheme available to lower income borrowers – now the thresholds are �30,000 for solo and �50,000 for joint applicants (�5,000 lower than previously);
there will be a new government-backed Mortgage Guarantee Scheme to ensure high loan-to-value mortgages are available in times of economic uncertainty;
FOS will need to align its decisions more closely with FCA rules;
the SMCR will be radically streamlined;
the FCA is to review how the Consumer Duty affects and applies to wholesale firms;
the MREL threshold will be raised to �25-49bn;
the Basel 3.1 rules will come in from January 2027;
reform of the ring-fencing regime;
a major FPC review of bank capital requirements;
providing bespoke support to fintechs;
greater financial capacity for the British Business Bank; and
progressing the Berne Financial Services Agreement, so that it is fully implemented by the end of the year.
See our separate posts on some of these initiatives!
FCA publishes Open Finance Sprint report
The FCA has published a report setting out the outcomes of the Open Finance Sprint it held in March 2025. The sprint aimed on practical data-sharing use cases for supporting four opportunity areas: financial wellbeing;...
Payments and e-money firm Ziglu enters special administration
Ziglu Limited – an authorised e-money and payment services firm – has entered into special administration. David Shambrook and Damian Webb of RSM were appointed joint special administrators of the firm on 7...
Innovate Finance reports on AI opportunities in financial services
Innovate Finance has published a report on AI opportunities in financial services. A BoE survey recently showed that 75% of firms are using AI, with 10% planning to adopt it in the next 3 years. In terms of benefits for...