FinTech Global FS Regulatory Round-up - w/e 30 October 2026

Global

CPMI report: The role of central banks and central bank money in the evolving payment system

The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) has published a report on the implications of technological innovation and the emergence of new payment arrangements for central banks and the role of central bank money.

The report notes that while these developments may create opportunities for enhanced efficiency, competition and innovation, they may also generate new interdependencies and introduce or amplify risks across the system, including credit, liquidity, operational and cyber risks. The paper also sets out considerations for central banks in their roles as issuers of money, payment system operators and overseers. [29 Oct 2026]  #Payments

IFC: AI readiness in central banks

The Irving Fisher Committee on Central Bank Statistics (IFC) has published a research report on AI readiness in central banks, which is based on the Committee’s 2026 survey covering both use and progress in AI readiness. The results highlight four themes:

• Central banks increasingly perceive themselves as being AI-ready.
• The perception is confirmed both by the growing number of reported use cases as well as by the steps taken to strengthen AI governance, infrastructure and capabilities in central banks.
• Despite progress, several challenges remain. First, expectations about AI’s impact across central banking functions remain uneven and show some signs of moderation for specific areas. Second, risks remain elevated, especially those related to costs and dependence on a smaller number of AI providers. Third, broader organisational challenges persist and continue to emerge, particularly in relation to security, skills and ethics. Lastly, there is awareness that important investments will continue to be needed amid rapid yet uncertain technological evolution.
• Looking ahead, experience suggests that strengthening central banks’ AI readiness calls for making progress on two fronts, namely their organisational setups and data.

The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the IFC, its members or the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). [28 Oct 2026]  #AI

WEF report on digital asset regulation

The The World Economic Forum (WEF) has published an insight report: Regulation of Digital Assets in a Shifting Global Landscape, which examines how jurisdictions can build credible regulatory frameworks for digital asset markets. Drawing on regulatory developments across 35 jurisdictions and engagement with both the public and private sectors, it identifies nine dimensions that policy-makers must consider, from legal certainty and custody to digital money, financial crime, market integrity and infrastructure.

The report is intended as a practical playbook to help jurisdictions at any point in their current digital assets regulatory journey assess risks, sequence priorities and determine where existing rules are sufficient or require adaptation. It also explores how regulatory cooperation, common standards and cross-border trust can support safe institutional adoption while preserving legitimate national choices. [28 Oct 2026]  #DigitalAsset

BIS bulletin: Building AI on credit – structures and spillovers

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has published a bulletin on the financial stability implications of the rapid growth in AI infrastructure financing. Key takeaways include:

• Capital expenditure to build AI infrastructure is growing fast, and a rising share is financed with long-term debt and through complex off-balance sheet arrangements.
• Off-balance sheet commitments from a few large firms help to transform the credit rating of the debt, drawing in institutional capital. Banks often lend to both the vehicles and investors holding the debt.
• On AI-financing-related news days in 2026, spillovers to US Treasury and investment-grade bond markets were small and short-lived, but sustained issuance at the current pace could change this.

The views expressed in the publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the BIS or its member central banks. [27 Oct 2026]   #AI

UK

FCA secures High Court undertakings against crypto exchange over unlawful promotions

The FCA has announced that it secured High Court undertakings from a global crypto exchange not to knowingly promote cryptoasset services unlawfully to UK consumers. The FCA began legal proceedings against the firm in October 2025 after it repeatedly failed to engage with the regulator following breaches of UK financial promotion rules. The exchange subsequently took steps to leave the UK, and the parties have now reached a confidential settlement that does not constitute an admission of liability or wrongdoing by the exchange or any other person or entity. The undertakings cover the exchange's website, software applications and social media platforms. [29 Oct 2026]  #Crypto #DigitalAsset

BoE consults on supervisory expectations for CCPs accepting tokenised collateral

The Bank of England (BoE) has published a consultation on proposed supervisory expectations for central counterparties (CCPs) seeking to accept tokenised versions of collateral currently eligible under the proposed CCP Rulebook. The BoE considers that the existing regulatory framework is not a barrier for CCPs accepting tokenised collateral, provided that collateral meets the standards required in central clearing, including remaining capable of being valued, transferred and realised when needed.

The BoE notes that the proposed supervisory expectations do not create a separate regulatory regime for tokenised collateral but are intended to provide greater clarity on what the BoE would expect CCPs to consider when submitting applications to accept such collateral through the existing supervisory process for the assessment of new collateral.

The BoE also confirms that the proposed approach is consistent with the current domestic expectations applicable to CCPs and with the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures published by the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).

Feedback is requested by 12 February 2027. [29 Oct 2026]  #Tokenisation

BoE and FCA: Survey results on AI and machine learning in UK financial services

The BoE has published the results of the FCA/BoE fourth survey of AI and machine learning in UK financial services.  The survey received 196 responses from across financial services. Key findings include:

• AI adoption has continued to increase, with 86% of surveyed firms now using AI (up from 75% in 2024); generative AI now accounts for 56% of reported AI systems (17% for foundation models in 2024).
• AI agents are more widespread, with 80% of respondents having agents deployed and a further 14% planning deployment within 12 months. However, only 2% reported agents were operating with broad autonomy.
• No more than 9% of respondents expected that AI agents would: approve or decline customer outcomes; execute trades or place orders; initiate, execute or block payments; or change limits, thresholds and controls. This included planned deployments over the next 12 months.
• Third-party AI systems account for 39% of all reported AI systems (up from 33% in 2024) and 53% of high-materiality systems (up from 35% in 2024). The top three cloud and compute providers account for 79% of reported relationships, while the top three model/API providers account for 54% of all reported relationships.
• Operational efficiency, automation and productivity were the highest-rated areas of perceived benefit from AI. Respondents expected benefits to increase over the next three years, particularly with regard to cybersecurity, operational resilience, revenue generation and competitive positioning.
• The highest-rated areas of perceived risk to firms from AI were data protection and security, third-party and supply chain risk, and GenAI-specific risks. Over the next one to three years, respondents expected risk levels to increase across all categories.
• Integrating AI into existing business processes and decisions and constraints imposed by legacy systems or infrastructure were the most cited non-regulatory constraints to adopting AI (23% and 22% respectively). For regulatory constraints, 42% of respondents cited UK data protection and privacy, and 29% cited international regulation.
• Sixty-four percent of respondents said that awareness of frontier AI has focused attention on vulnerability matching and patching, and 88% assessed evolving frontier AI cyber capabilities over the next two years as having a moderate or high impact on their firm’s risk profile.
• Some 57% said they considered the sustainability impacts of AI use. While the majority (82%) did not report externally on this at the moment, 36% said they planned to within the next two years. [26 Oct 2026]  #AI

FSCP response to tokenised gold CFI

The FCA has published the Financial Services Consumer Panel’s (FSCP’s) response to the Call for Input (CfI) titled Tokenised Gold: Opportunities and risks for UK wholesale markets. The FSCP acknowledges that the wholesale case for tokenisation of gold is a valid initiative, and tokenisation should offer efficiency gains with greater certainty of ownership and swifter mobility. It suggests that further in-depth analysis of buy-side demand vs sell-side supply and any geopolitical risks is important.

With regard to the retail markets, the FSCP notes the existing active retail market for gold and comments that tokenisation may facilitate this further. However, as retail investors already have access to gold, demonstrable improvements in cost and transparency would be needed to warrant progressing tokenisation for this market. The FSCP is mindful that tokenisation of gold also introduces additional risks around redemption and liquidity which are likely to be higher than within the current trading system, and may also present greater opportunities for fraud. It concludes that, prior to enabling retail access to tokenised gold, it will be key to understand the motivations of retail investors to transact in this format; additionally, the FCA should consider the potential for market abuse and how collective investment rules and cryptoasset activity rules may apply. [26 Oct 2026]  #Tokenisation #Crypto

Europe

ESMA newsletter: Spotlight on Markets – September and October 2026

ESMA has published the latest edition of its newsletter Spotlight on Markets. This edition includes:

• 2027 annual work programme;
• new Union strategic supervisory priority on digital innovation for 2027;
• call for vigilance over external dependencies, cyber threats and private markets risks; and
• ESMA proposals to amend the Markets in Cryptoassets Regulation (MiCAR) for emerging cryptoasset services. [29 Oct 2026] #Crypto #DigitalAsset 

Australia

APRA Chair addresses Senate committee on financial stability and AI risk

APRA Chair John Lonsdale delivered an opening statement to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee, focusing on financial system stability, AI risks, superannuation reform and enforcement.

Key insights include that:

• Australia's financial system remains strong, but the global operating environment is more uncertain than it has been for many years. Risks are increasingly offshore, including geopolitical threats and elevated government debt in major economies, posing flow-on risks for Australia.
• AI is an emerging operational resilience risk. While it offers efficiency and innovation benefits, its rapid development is increasing cyber threats and testing entities' governance and risk management practices.
• APRA released a package of reforms last month to strengthen superannuation trustee investment governance, aligned with legislative measures announced in August to strengthen consumer protection and increase the resilience of the superannuation system.
• Notable recent enforcement action includes APRA's first civil penalty proceedings under the Financial Accountability Regime, imposition of licence conditions on a large regional bank for longstanding weaknesses in its non-financial risk management framework, and imposition of licence conditions on a mid-size bank in September following material breaches of minimum liquidity requirements.
• APRA is working closely with other regulators to reduce regulatory duplication. It aims to reduce unnecessary complexity in reporting without impairing resilience.  [29 Oct 2026]  #AI

Singapore

MAS: SPaN appoints leadership team for national payment schemes

The Singapore Payments Network (SPaN), a not-for-profit entity set up by MAS and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) to administer and govern Singapore’s national payment schemes, has appointed its CEO and Board of Directors.

Mr Derek Chan, who has led payment scheme development, payments operations and industry engagement, has been appointed as the inaugural CEO of SPaN.

SPaN is governed by an 11-member Board, chaired by Ms Jacqueline Loh, Deputy Managing Director (Corporate Development) of MAS.

SPaN will commence operations in early 2027, with an immediate focus on ensuring a seamless and stable transition of the national payment schemes from their current administrators. As scheme owner, SPaN will strengthen governance and operational resilience while driving innovation and modernisation of Singapore’s core national payment infrastructure, and deeper regional connectivity. [28 Oct 2026]  #Payments

MAS, BNM and BoT partner with industry to advance cross-border settlement in digital money through BLOOM

MAS has announced that the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Bank of Thailand (BoT) have joined the BLOOM (Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, Multi-currency) initiative as policymaker members. Through BLOOM, MAS, BNM and BOT will partner industry players across their respective jurisdictions to develop common approaches for the cross-border use of digital money, including how different forms of digital money can be accepted, exchanged, and settled across institutions, networks, and jurisdictions.

Participants will focus on three areas to support the use of digital money across jurisdictions:

• acceptance and settlement across jurisdictions;
• interoperability across digital money arrangements; and
• programmable controls. [23 Oct 2026] #DigitalAsset

Thailand

SECT consults on rule revisions to accommodate digital assets in derivatives business

The Securities and Exchange Commission Thailand (SECT) has commenced consultation on draft notifications revising the licensing framework for derivatives businesses, covering the operation of derivatives exchanges and derivatives clearing houses, and intermediary businesses, to support the inclusion of digital assets as underlying assets under the Derivatives Act B.E. 2546 (2003). The proposed revisions would also provide investors with an additional option to use derivatives referencing digital assets as a tool for managing risks in their investment portfolios.

The key points of the draft notifications are:

• revising the licensing criteria to facilitate interested parties and digital asset business operators in engaging in derivatives businesses without imposing undue burdens; and
• revising the financial reporting standards applicable to derivatives exchanges and derivatives clearing houses to further strengthen regulatory oversight of the derivatives market infrastructure.

Comments are requested by 28 November 2026. [29 Oct 2026] #DigitalAsset

SECT consultation: Disciplinary Committee for Digital Asset Businesses

SECT has launched a consultation on amendments to the regulations governing the Disciplinary Committee for Digital Asset Businesses. The amendments aim to enhance clarity and align the regulations with those governing other panels of qualified experts responsible for providing opinions to the SECT, taking into account credibility, transparency, and operational efficiency.

Comments are requested by 2 November 2026. [27 Oct 2026] #DigitalAsset

India

IFSCA: Financial soundness criteria for payment systems operators

The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has published a Circular: Financial Soundness Criteria applicable to existing PSO(s) and the Applicant(s) desirous of commencing Payment System, which specifies the soundness criteria which is applicable to existing Payment System Operators (PSOs) and which is required for applicants seeking to establish PSOs in the IFSC.

This Circular has immediate effect. [27 Oct 2026] #Payments

US

SEC announces FY 2027 examination priorities

The SEC has announced the Division of Examinations’ Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 examination priorities. The annual report identifies key areas of focus as the Division carries out its mission to promote compliance, prevent fraud, identify and monitor risk, and inform Commission policy.

Key areas of focus for FY 2027 include:

• Operational resiliency, cybersecurity, and protection of customer information.
• Emerging technologies, including super intelligence and other advanced technologies that may affect market operations, compliance, fraud prevention, and investor protection.
• Risks associated with evolving market infrastructure, including Treasury clearing reforms, tokenization, and related developments.  [Oct 23, 2026] #Cyber #Tokenisation #AI

OCC issues final rule to implement GENIUS Act

The OCC has issued a final rule implementing the GENIUS Act for entities within its jurisdiction.

The rule applies to permitted payment stablecoin issuers, foreign payment stablecoin issuers and certain custody activities conducted by OCC-supervised entities. It establishes requirements addressing reserve backing, redemption, risk management and related stablecoin activities.

The rule covers the OCC regulations required by the GENIUS Act, except provisions concerning the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), anti-money laundering (AML) and Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions (OFAC). Those provisions will be addressed through separate rulemaking coordinated with the Department of the Treasury.

The final rule and the GENIUS Act take effect on 18 January 2027. The OCC will separately announce when it will accept and process applications and waiver requests from prospective permitted payment stablecoin issuers.  [Oct 21, 2026]  #Stablecoin #DigitalAsset