快速展望2026年的预期

A quick lookahead at what toexpect in 2026 2026 is set to be another year of focus on growth and competitiveness, with regulators inboth the UK and EU looking to drive these objectives forward through rule simplification andrationalisation. We’ll see further Consumer Duty reviews and rule simplification programmes However, as these programmes take shape, we are also likely to see further rule divergence arising, bringing with it potentialcompliance challenges. Parallel reform agendas, such as those in payments and crypto, may see more divergence emerge as Here’s a quick look at what financial institutions and fintechs can expect to see on the regulatory agenda in 2026. Conduct and risk Consumer The regulators have started to reconsider whether their robust regulatory responsesto the financial crises 17 years ago remain fit for purpose, and 2026 will see acontinuation of this work alongside reforms to spur economic growth. The FCAfocus in particular is on responsible risk-taking and the need for industry, as well asinvestors and consumers, to get comfortable with taking managed risks to supportthe growth agenda. For example, we’ll see movement in 2026 on the targeted As noted, the FCA’s focus on responsible risk-taking means that the regulator’sattention is now on encouraging consumers to get comfortable with takingmanaged risks alongside responsibility for their financial education and decision-making. The FCA has embarked on an ongoing programme of rule simplification infavour of relying more heavily on the principles-based Consumer Duty framework, To support managed risk-taking, we should also see the introduction of newregulatory regimes to close gaps and facilitate further consumer activity. In thefirst half of 2026 the new targeted support regime will go live – this involves thecreation of a new regulated activity below the personalised advice boundary,which will enable the provision of suggestions designed for groups of consumers In operational and cyber resilience, it will be interesting to see what the fallout willbe in 2026 from the high-profile data centre failures of late 2025, and whether theUK and EU seek to shore up firms or robustly regulate further under the EU DigitalOperational Resilience Act (DORA) and UK Critical Third Parties (CTP) regimes Financial crime, misconductand enforcement Innovation and digitalisation ESG In 2025 we saw a significant number of developments in crypto regulation,and 2026 should bring further still. We should see the last of the FCA’sconsultations on the new crypto regulatory framework, with theauthorisations gateway expected to open in September 2026 after finalrules are published in preparation for the regime’s commencement inOctober 2027, bringing the UK into alignment with the EU by regulatingthis fast-growing sector. Traditional asset tokenisation is also rapidly 2025 brought a global pullback from robust ESG regulation, and weexpect 2026 to be no different. Regulators globally have shown theircommitment to reducing sustainability reporting burdens and introducingmore proportionate rules for firms. In the EU, version 2.0 of theSustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) is progressing, which willsimplify disclosures and reduce administrative burden alongside the The EU anti-money laundering (AML) regime reforms will be the majordriver of AML compliance change for firms in 2026, with robust newobligations coming into force incrementally in 2026 and 2027 alongsidethe ramping up of activities undertaken by the new EU AML regulator,the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA). In the UK, forthcoming More generally, the global focus has been on transition and adaptationrather than bright green finance, although there is still a reluctance toimpose robust requirements even in those mildly green or brown areas.Transition plans remain in focus, but there may be a watering down of the Since the appointments of Therese Chambers and Steve Smart as jointenforcement directors, the FCA has made considerable progress inreducing the enforcement backlog and increasing the pace ofinvestigations, alongside policy changes aimed at meaningful deterrence.Although the FCA pulled back in 2025 from its intention to implement a Next moves are less clear when it comes to AI, with regulators keen torely on existing frameworks for regulatory guardrails on the integrationof AI into the sector. While the FCA has published its general approach toAI deployment, dedicated rulemaking is unlikely be forthcoming and thefocus is now on robust sandbox and testing arrangements. In the EU, the However, regulators are not pulling back in all areas of ESG regulation,with both the EU and UK introducing regulatory regimes for ESG ratingsproviders. The EU regime is set to apply from 2 July 2026. Following a bitfurther behind, the UK’s regime will take effect from June 2028, with the We expect the FCA’s enforcement outcomes in 2026 to continue to skewheavily toward those focusing o