The FCA has finalised the changes that were proposed in May this year to make it easier for customers to engage with mortgage providers and make reductions to mortgage terms and remortgaging easier. This includes removing the...more
Key developments of interest over the last month include: the UK government's communications in connection with the Chancellor's annual Mansion House speech, and the launch of its Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness...more
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has delivered her second Mansion House speech and announced the “Leeds Reforms” in conjunction with publication of the awaited Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy and related...more
Key developments of interest over the last month include: draft legislation to regulate BNPL credit in the UK (in contrast to the de-prioritising of enforcement of BNPL regulatory breaches in the US); final confirmation of UK...more
5/22/2025
/ Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) ,
CFTC ,
Cryptoassets ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
HM Treasury ,
Payment Systems ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Stablecoins ,
UK
Key developments of interest over the last month include: the Central Bank of Somalia announcing the launch of the Somalia Instant Payment System (SIPS), the country’s first nationwide instant payments infrastructure; the...more
4/28/2025
/ Australia ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
EU ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinTech ,
Payment Systems ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
UK
Motor finance, mortgage rule review work and Consumer Duty feature prominently in the work plans for this strategic priority. Firms should note that the FCA includes a warning in relation to the Duty that, where necessary, it...more
4/14/2025
/ Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinTech ,
Mortgages ,
Open Banking ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Regulatory Reform ,
UK
Proposed increases in the deposit protection limit from £85,000 to £110,000 and in the temporary high balance limit from £1 million to £1.4 million would take effect from 1 December 2025. There would be a transitional period...more
The FCA has published a Strategy Paper, outlining its strategy for the next five years. The FCA says it will focus on four priorities: (i) being a smarter regulator; (ii) supporting sustained economic growth; (iii) helping...more
Key developments of interest over the last month include: the UK government publishing a pro-growth Action Plan for regulators and regulation, including pledges from the FCA of relevance to payments and digital assets firms;...more
3/25/2025
/ BaFin ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinTech ,
HM Treasury ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Reform ,
UK
The government has published a policy paper containing an Action Plan for “A new approach to ensure regulators and regulation support growth”. The Action Plan shows a shift in approach towards regulation (including, but not...more
Following the FCA’s January 2025 response to the government’s request for ideas to support its growth mission for the UK economy, the regulator has now written to the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, and released other...more
Following the FCA’s January 2025 response to the government’s request for ideas to support its growth mission for the UK economy, the FCA has now published an engagement paper seeking feedback on the different ways that it...more
Banks and EMIs will need to consider the impacts of proposed new requirements to comply with information notices and account direct deduction orders on their policies, procedures and controls. For information notices, this...more
As previously referred to by the FCA (for example in its 2023/24 Business Plan) and following its Borrowers in Financial Difficulty (BiFD) project findings, it has launched a consultation setting out how it plans to...more
HM Treasury has published the text of the awaited draft memorandum of understanding (MoU) on UK-EU regulatory co-operation in financial services, which has already been adopted by the European Commission. The focus of the MoU...more
With the economic and geopolitical environment likely to remain ‘highly uncertain’, the FCA’s latest Business Plan reflects its decision to accelerate work in four areas over the next year: putting consumers’ needs first;...more
Key developments of interest over the last two months include: the Central Bank of Ireland publishing a Dear CEO letter to the payments industry; the Bank of England and HM Treasury launching a consultation on a model for a...more
On 3 March 2023, the FCA published its third batch of portfolio letters setting out its expectations for firms implementing the Consumer Duty. We covered the previous two sets of letters in our Engage articles of 9 and 28...more
The government is consulting on proposed draft legislation that will bring BNPL within the FCA’s regulatory perimeter. Whilst a proportionate approach may be evident in the tailoring of pre-contractual information...more
The FCA has published its findings from its review of the Consumer Duty implementation plans of around 60 of the largest retail financial services firms who have fixed FCA supervisory teams. It highlights effective...more
Key developments of interest over the last month include: the UK government announcing a package of financial services regulatory reforms (the “Edinburgh Reforms”) to drive growth and competitiveness in the sector; continued...more
Following a government announcement in June this year of a commitment to 'ambitious long-term reform' to create a consumer credit regulatory regime that fosters innovation but also maintains high levels of consumer...more
The FCA has published a policy statement and final rules aimed at improving the appointed representatives (ARs) regime. Previous FCA data analysis had shown that there are more issues arising from principals and ARs than from...more
Key developments of interest over the last month include: Queen's Speech 2022 announces forthcoming Financial Services and Markets Bill; European Commission consultations and calls for evidence on PSD2 review and open...more
5/31/2022
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Electronic Payment Transactions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
HM Treasury ,
Payment Services Directive ,
PSD2
The fifth edition of the Financial Services Regulatory Initiatives Grid has been published today by the Financial Services Regulatory Initiatives Forum. The initiatives in this edition include the Financial Services and...more