The appointed representatives regime has been around longer than many of us might realise, having been introduced in 1986, and so predating our beloved Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) by some years. No doubt,...more
The Bank of England (BoE) has published a letter dated 15 July, responding to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's letter that set out the government's recommendations to the BoE's Financial Market Infrastructure Committee...more
HM Treasury has published its latest 2025 National Risk Assessment (NRA) of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, offering a comprehensive review of the UK's exposure to financial crime. Building on the 2015, 2017, and...more
HM Treasury has published an update on the National Payments Vision (NPV), announcing plans to implement a new collaborative model for delivering the UK's next-generation retail payments infrastructure. The Payments Vision...more
HM Treasury (HMT) has published its consultation paper on cross-cutting reforms in the UK regulatory environment in relation to key performance indicators, principles and strategies to be applied by the UK Financial Conduct...more
HM Treasury (HMT) has published a policy paper on its update on the digital gilt instrument (DIGIT) pilot. The paper follows the Preliminary Market Engagement Notice (PMEN), which closed in April and which was the first stage...more
HM Treasury has published a policy paper on the wholesale financial markets digital strategy. The purpose of the strategy is to ensure the UK benefits from opportunities to improve its wholesale financial markets, by using...more
The UK statutory instrument (The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities etc.) (Amendment) Order 2025) implementing the necessary legislative changes for progressing buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) regulation...more
The first half of 2025 brought significant developments in the regulation of digital and cryptoassets in the UK and EU. In this half-year update, we review these and look ahead to likely developments in the UK and EU in the...more
HM Treasury has published a policy paper setting out an update to its final position to its 2024 consultation on regulating Buy-Now, Pay-Later (BNPL) products which led to the laying of the draft secondary legislation, The...more
The Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (Exemption from Stamp Duties) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/666) have been published, alongside an explanatory memorandum. The regulations exempt the transfer of a...more
On 29 April, UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled draft legislation aimed at regulating cryptoassets at the International Fintech Growth Summit (IFGS) in London, sponsored by Latham & Watkins. The proposed legislation...more
The Financial Services Regulatory Initiatives Forum (the Forum) has published the Regulatory Initiatives Forum Grid (the Grid), with the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) also updating its webpage. The previous Grid was...more
The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced details of the launch of the procurement process for the pilot digital gilt instrument (DIGIT) issuance. The pilot aims to: (i) enable the government to explore how distributed...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
The UK’s Treasury ("HMT") has set out an Action Plan to ensure that regulation promotes growth and investment. Noting that while regulation has many benefits, the UK’s current stance is hindering its international...more
The Financial Conduct Authority has published a letter (dated January 16, 2025) from Nikhil Rathi, FCA Chief Executive, sent to the Government, setting out its work to ensure that it is supporting the Government's U.K. growth...more
Digitalisation and the application of key technologies, such as distributed ledger technology (DLT), are reshaping the landscape of global finance. In this report, TheCityUK has collaborated with Hogan Lovells to consider the...more
HM Treasury has published a speech given on November 21, 2024, by Tulip Siddiq, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, on the U.K. government's approach to tokenisation and regulation. In the speech, Ms. Siddiq confirms that HM...more
The consultation paper also includes a discussion chapter about further reform, either now or in the future, to make the rules better suited to the range of U.K. licensed firms and their clients. This includes in...more
On November 14, 2024, the UK government unveiled its National Payments Vision (the Vision), a strategy designed to reshape the UK’s payments ecosystem. This Vision responds to the findings of the 2023 Future of Payments...more
The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Mansion House speech on 14 November 2024 and the National Payments Vision—published on the same day—set out key policy initiatives regarding the future of the UK financial services sector....more
In the UK, 14 million people used “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) at least once in the six months leading up to January 2023. Frequent users were more than four times as likely as other consumers to have missed a payment on a...more
On April 19, 2024, the U.K.'s Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee published proposals on the design of the future entity for UK Open Banking. The JROC is composed of the Financial Conduct Authority, the Payment Systems...more
Responses to the joint Bank of England and HM Treasury consultation paper on a “digital pound” are in, with over 50,000 submissions in total. The scale of feedback shows significant interest in a discussion which could pave...more