United Kingdom: Finance and Banking

The UK Financial Conduct Authority and Bank of England have released a joint feedback statement on tokenisation in wholesale financial markets, addressing industry responses on regulatory treatment, collateral mobility, and settlement frameworks. The regulators outline their commitment to providing clarity on prudential treatment while maintaining technology-agnostic principles, with a comprehensive Tokenisation Roadmap expected later in 2026. Additionally, the FCA has launched a separate consultation explo

The High Court has rejected the Financial Ombudsman Service's attempt to investigate consumer complaints about lending decisions made more than six years before complaints were raised, providing critical clarity on time limits for FOS complaints. This landmark decision saw unprecedented intervention by the FCA in support of the banks and arrives amid substantial reform to UK consumer financial services law through the Financial Services and Markets Bill.

The UK Government's decision to transfer anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing supervision of legal service providers, accountancy firms and trust and company service providers to the FCA marks a fundamental shift in the UK's financial crime framework. With implementation expected to begin in 2028, approximately 60,000 businesses will face direct FCA supervision for the first time, requiring enhanced governance, risk management and regulatory engagement capabilities.