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
Amongst the broad range of updates this week, at international level, the FSB published its thematic peer review on MMF Reforms and the BCBS published the outcomes of its meeting held on 28 and 29 February, including that it...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
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Digital Securities Sandbox) Regulations 2023 came into force on Jan. 8, creating the U.K.'s first digital securities sandbox within which firms would be able to test new...more
Following its consultation earlier this year, HM Treasury has published a response to its consultation on the Digital Securities Sandbox, confirming that it will mostly adopt the approach consulted on to establish the DSS....more
Following feedback to their July discussion paper, the U.K. regulators—the Bank of England, Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority—have launched a joint consultation proposing rules and regulatory...more
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published a discussion paper regarding potential future proposals for regulating fiat-backed stablecoins, including when used as a means of payment. The FCA's paper follows the...more
On 6 November 2023, the Bank of England (the UK’s central bank) issued a discussion paper on the regulation on stablecoins, alongside another paper by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) (DP23/4) and a “Dear CEO” letter...more
HM Treasury has published a consultation response and draft statutory instrument on reforms to the high net worth and sophisticated investor exemptions under the financial promotions regime. The Financial Services and Markets...more
HM Treasury has published a response to its consultation on cryptoasset regulation, setting out its final proposals for the U.K.'s cryptoasset regulatory regime. The U.K. plans to make cryptoassets a new category of...more
HM Treasury has published a Policy Paper on Plans for the Regulation of Fiat-backed Stablecoins, setting out the next steps for the implementation of stablecoin regulation in the U.K. Fiat-backed stablecoins are (under HM...more
HM Treasury has published a response to its consultation on payments regulation and the systemic perimeter. The consultation was prompted by the U.K. government's Payments Landscape Review and HM Treasury's concern that some...more
HM Treasury has published a consultation on the establishment of a financial market infrastructure sandbox, known as the Digital Securities Sandbox. The sandbox will be established using new powers granted by the...more
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its policy statement PS23/11 (PS), containing final guidance (the guidance) on trading venues. A firm requires trading venue authorisation from the FCA if it operates...more