Insights
Analysis and commentary on regulatory developments, institutional moves, and what they mean for decision-making.
The Bank of England has launched a consultation clarifying that central counterparties can accept tokenised forms of eligible collateral under the existing framework, provided core standards hold. For bank treasurers, CCP members and infrastructure providers, this reframes tokenisation from pilot curiosity to a supervised route into live clearing workflows.
Read articleThe FCA has published its clearest signal yet on how firms should assess and evidence fair value under the Consumer Duty, drawing explicit lines between stronger and weaker approaches. For boards and executives in consumer finance, the review resets expectations on data, segmentation and the quality of fair value conclusions.
Read articleChancellor John Healey's first Budget commits a further £10 billion to Ukraine, including a £3 billion expansion of UK Export Finance capacity prioritised for military support. For bank and insurer boards, this cements a structural shift in how state-backed finance interacts with defence supply chains and sanctioned-adjacent risk.
Read articleThe UK and Canada have agreed to develop the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank and the Multilateral Defence Mechanism as two distinct but complementary institutions. For senior leaders at banks, insurers and asset managers eyeing defence financing mandates, the architectural choice reshapes where capital, governance and origination will sit.
Read articleThe FCA has concluded that defence SMEs are not being systematically excluded from banking, but are facing friction and delay that firms can and should fix. For bank boards, the finding shifts the question from risk appetite to process proportionality, with reputational and policy consequences attached.
Read articleThe FCA's review of conflicts of interest in private equity, private credit and real estate found standards varying considerably, with recurring weaknesses in cross-fund transfers, gifts and information barriers. For boards of fast-growing private market firms, the message is that governance must now scale with the balance sheet.
Read articleThe PRA and FCA have launched parallel consultations to strip back the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, scrapping the Certification Regime for roughly 139,000 staff and promising firms around £2 billion of savings over a decade. For boards and senior managers, the accountability perimeter contracts on paper but the standard of personal responsibility does not move.
Read articleSarah Pritchard told the Investment Association that the FCA is 'just past peak rule making' in investment management, with early targeted support reforms already lifting consumer investment by up to 53%. For boards and executives, the message is that influence now shifts from drafting responses to shaping how a smaller, outcomes-based rulebook is tested, supervised and enforced.
Read articleThe FCA's chief data officer has disclosed that 86% of financial services firms now use AI, and confirmed the regulator is moving from consultation to testing and surveillance. For boards, the question is no longer whether to adopt AI, but whether their accountability structures can withstand supervisory scrutiny when deployment outpaces governance.
Read articleJessica Rusu's 19 October speech confirms the FCA will embed six of the seven Mills Review recommendations into live supervisory work rather than consult further, as 86% of surveyed firms now use AI. Senior leaders should expect direct engagement, assurance testing and surveillance on AI deployments, not another rulebook.
Read articleThe FCA has published good and poor practice guidance for AI in financial services, clarifying how existing frameworks apply rather than creating new ones. For senior leaders, the message is that accountability for AI outcomes already sits with them under rules they know well.
Read articleThe FCA has revoked bans against four former traders after the Court of Appeal overturned their LIBOR and EURIBOR convictions, closing a decade-long enforcement chapter. For senior leaders, the episode exposes the fragility of regulatory action built on criminal verdicts and reshapes expectations around individual accountability.
Read articleJarvis Investment Management and ePayments Systems entered special administration within 24 hours of each other, exposing wealth managers and e-money firms to fresh client-asset scrutiny. For senior leaders, the episode reframes safeguarding, outsourced custody and FSCS perimeter questions as live board issues, not operational housekeeping.
Read articleThe Bank of England's Money Markets Committee reports stable funding and ample liquidity even as Quantitative Tightening, leverage ratio reform and growing European Commercial Paper issuance reshape the sterling funding mix. For treasurers, CFOs and ALCO chairs, the calm surface hides structural changes that demand repositioning now rather than at the next quarter-end.
Read articleThe FCA and NCA arrested three suspects in a coordinated operation against an alleged organised insider dealing and money laundering ring, deploying more than 100 staff across five London and Manchester properties. The scale and partnership model mark a shift in how market abuse enforcement is being prosecuted, with direct implications for how banks, brokers and asset managers supervise information flows.
Read articleTwo senior figures at Nexus IFA and Nexus IM have pleaded guilty to defrauding clients of £2m between 2019 and 2023, with sentencing set for December. The case sharpens questions about director-level accountability, firm permissions, and how boards oversee small advice businesses where control is concentrated.
Read articleThe Upper Tribunal will hear legal challenges to the FCA's motor finance compensation scheme between 16 and 26 February 2027, with judgment expected months later. The FCA is telling lenders to prepare financially and operationally for the possibility that the scheme, or parts of it, could be quashed.
Read articleThe Bank of England and UK Finance ran a sector-wide simulation of a global cloud services disruption involving the 38 largest and most systemically important banks and market infrastructure operators. The exercise sets a clear expectation that firms now act on the findings, raising the bar for how boards govern third-party concentration risk.
Read articleThe FCA has proposed a mandatory 90-day notice period for authorised funds investing in illiquid assets such as property, with existing funds given two years to comply. For asset managers, distributors and platforms, this reshapes the economics of open-ended private market vehicles and forces a difficult client conversation.
Read articleISDA has confirmed that its 2026 FX Definitions will replace the 1998 framework from November 2027, with SWIFT changes landing over summer 2026. For heads of markets, legal and operations, the transition is now a hard project with a fixed deadline, not an industry consultation.
Read articleThe FCA has commissioned a board-level review of its handling of a long-standing whistleblower following his death, led by newly appointed non-executive director Lea Paterson. For regulated firms, the signal is that the regulator's own conduct toward vulnerable sources is now a governance matter, with implications for how firms themselves treat internal reporters.
Read articleThe FCA has declared the main phase of its wholesale market reform programme complete and is now pivoting to tokenisation, AI and private share trading. For senior leaders, the signal is that the regulator wants informed risk-taking back on the agenda, and expects firms to meet it.
Read articleThe FCA's 2026 practitioner survey shows satisfaction, trust and confidence in the regulator all climbing, alongside a sharp jump in firms' understanding of the Secondary International Competitiveness and Growth Objective. For senior leaders, the numbers reset the terms of engagement with Stratford, but the Panel is already pushing for harder evidence that priorities are producing outcomes.
Read articleThe Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee has warned that financial stability risks have worsened since July, with sovereign yields at post-2008 highs and AI-related debt issuance broadening capital market exposures. Senior leaders in banking, asset management and insurance now face a stability signal that reframes capital planning, counterparty exposure and operational resilience priorities.
Read articleThe FCA has opened its authorisation gateway for crypto firms, with applications due by 28 February 2027 and the new regime live from 25 October 2027. For banks, asset managers and insurers, this changes counterparty due diligence, product strategy and the risk calculus of engaging with the sector.
Read articleThe FCA has secured a bankruptcy order in Scotland against Arthur Temlett, trading as Abacus Insurance Consultants, following concerns he sold policies without remitting premiums. The case shows how the regulator is using personal insolvency, not just enforcement, to close out small-firm failures, with implications for professional indemnity underwriters, insurers relying on broker distribution, and boards overseeing appointed representative networks.
Read articleMinutes from the Bank of England's Market Participants Group show senior investors and MPC members converging on the view that Bank Rate may need to rise. For finance leaders who spent 2026 planning around gradual easing, the repricing forces a rethink of funding, hedging and capital assumptions.
Read articleITI Capital Ltd entered special administration on 25 September 2026, days after the FCA confirmed twenty-four CFD firms have closed or are closing in its crackdown on misuse of UK authorisation. Together, the two events reset how boards should think about authorisation as a reputational asset and about client asset risk in the brokerage segment.
Read articleThe FCA's latest survey shows firms closed 238,396 suspected mule accounts in 2025, but criminals are still cashing out between the second and fifth account in the chain. For senior leaders, the data reframes mule controls as an intelligence-sharing problem, not a volume metric.
Read articleFCA chief executive Nikhil Rathi has told the City that the UK must move from experimentation to adoption on tokenisation and AI, citing estimates of £33 billion in annual GDP benefit. For senior leaders in wholesale markets, the signal is that regulatory patience with pilots is running out and hybrid infrastructure decisions can no longer be deferred.
Read articleThe FCA has issued a consumer warning on debt advice red flags, restricted Curtis Faraday from taking new customers, and banned a senior manager at Beauforce Corporation for lack of honesty and integrity. For leaders in consumer finance, lead generation, and IVA-adjacent businesses, the regulator is signalling that steering practices and referral economics are now enforcement territory.
Read articleThe FCA's final Pure Protection Market Study finds competition works for existing customers but around 58% of adults hold no protection cover. Rather than impose new rules, the regulator is testing whether firms can close the gap under Consumer Duty and product governance obligations already on the books.
Read articleThe FCA has issued High Court proceedings against Osborne Baldwin Limited, trading as Hunter Jones, alleging unauthorised regulated activity in the sale of loan notes and seeking investor restitution. The move signals a more litigious posture on perimeter breaches that authorised firms, distributors and professional advisers cannot ignore.
Read articleThe Bank of England held Bank Rate at 3.75% in September while the Fed and ECB moved, and the Governor argued that unexpected inaction has itself tightened UK monetary conditions. For financial services leaders, the message is that policy divergence and Gulf-driven energy risk are now the operative variables in balance sheet, pricing and hedging decisions.
Read articleSteve Smart used the Law Society Economic Crime Conference to signal the FCA is ready to take on anti-money laundering supervision of the legal and accounting sectors. For financial services leaders, the move reshapes the intelligence-sharing perimeter and raises the bar on what 'partnership' with the regulator now requires.
Read articleThe FCA has published perimeter guidance for the UK's cryptoasset regime, with the authorisation gateway opening on 30 September 2026 and the regime taking effect on 25 October 2027. For senior leaders at crypto firms and the banks, custodians and asset managers adjacent to them, the thirteen-month window between gateway opening and regime commencement is now the defining planning horizon.
Read articleThe government has committed £500 million over three years to recruit 500 new financial crime officers across policing, the NCA and the CPS, funded through the economic crime levy. For banks, payment firms and professional services, this shifts the enforcement centre of gravity from regulatory fines toward criminal asset recovery, with immediate consequences for SAR quality, MLRO capacity and board-level financial crime governance.
Read articleThe Upper Tribunal has upheld the FCA's ban of Crispin Odey and imposed a £1.53 million fine, finding that he lacked integrity and dismantled his firm's governance to avoid accountability. The ruling reframes non-financial misconduct as a governance failure that boards, not just HR functions, are expected to prevent.
Read articleEconomic Secretary Lucy Rigby used her 10 September speech to UK Private Capital to reset the government's relationship with asset managers, promising partnership and investment in Britain. For senior leaders, the substance behind the rhetoric will determine whether the UK's asset management primacy holds against competing centres.
Read articleChristopher Woolcott has pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates' Court to four counts of fraud and forgery after fabricating a takeover approach for AIM-listed Touchstone Exploration Inc. The case signals that the FCA is again prepared to pursue individual market abuse through criminal prosecution, not just civil penalty, with implications for issuer surveillance, broker due diligence and board-level market integrity controls.
Read articleThe Bank of England has deferred its entire November 2026 RTGS standards release after Swift delayed its own CBPR+ update, citing industry concerns about global readiness. For senior leaders at banks and payment firms, the episode reveals how much UK payments modernisation depends on decisions taken outside the UK, and why programme governance needs to reflect that.
Read articleHM Treasury and HMRC have issued another round of updates to the UK's authorised use, tariff suspension and import duty relief reference documents, with new versions taking effect on 1 October 2026. For regulated firms with trade finance, supply chain and treasury exposure, the cadence itself is now the governance issue.
Read articleChancellor John Healey has committed to new sandboxing powers via a Regulating for Growth Bill and set a target to double the UK's unicorn count. For financial services leaders, this signals a shift in the regulatory contract that will reshape how firms test products, engage regulators, and price compliance risk.
Read articleThe Bank of England has deferred the November 2026 RTGS standards release in its entirety after Swift postponed its own CBPR+ release, citing industry concerns about readiness for the removal of unstructured postal addresses. For boards that had budgeted, staffed and sequenced ISO 20022 migration around a fixed November date, the reset is a live test of change governance and vendor accountability.
Read articleThe FCA has decided to ban and fine former adviser Daniel Thomas £742,700 for reckless defined benefit pension transfer advice given without the required qualifications, while his firm operated as an appointed representative of Quilter Financial Services. The case reopens hard questions for principal firms about oversight, qualification verification, and the residual liabilities that sit above the AR relationship.
Read articleNew FCA research shows 80% of less experienced young investors have used AI for investment help, with sizeable minorities wrongly believing outputs are regulated or covered by compensation schemes. For wealth managers, platforms and consumer-facing banks, this reshapes the Consumer Duty perimeter and the definition of suitable investor journeys.
Read articleThe FCA has opened a review into Child Trust Funds alongside a warning that 760,000 matured accounts worth an average of £2,000 each remain unclaimed. For insurers and asset managers holding these accounts, the review reframes dormancy as a Consumer Duty and fair-value issue with clear board-level exposure.
Read articleThe UK has issued its first industry-wide alert against Russia's A7 sanctions evasion network and doubled the maximum OFSI penalty to 100% of breach value. Senior leaders in banking, payments and asset management now face a materially higher enforcement bar and explicit expectations to screen for third-country conduits.
Read articleEGR Wealth Limited entered administration on 24 August 2026, one month after accepting a voluntary requirement restricting its activities. The case exposes how quickly a discretionary manager can move from supervisory intervention to insolvency, and what that means for boards overseeing similar firms.
Read articleThe FCA has fined and banned former Dolfin executives over a scheme that helped at least 99 clients bypass investor visa rules, generating £35.5m in fees. The case resets expectations on shadow control, concealment, and senior manager integrity for boards across wealth and private banking.
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