Mortgage Rule Review: First Steps To Simplify Rules And Increase Flexibility (Podcast)

The Financial Conduct Authority has released comprehensive perimeter guidance for the UK's new regulated cryptoasset activities regime, clarifying when firms will need authorization and how the regulatory framework applies to qualifying cryptoassets and stablecoins. The guidance addresses critical questions about scope, territorial application, and the narrower "by way of business" test that determines which entities fall under the new regulatory requirements.

Islamic finance is experiencing rapid global expansion, with assets approaching US$6tn and record sukuk issuance attracting non-traditional investors. The convergence of Shariah-compliant and sustainable investing is creating new opportunities, while AAOIFI Standard No. 62 and tokenisation developments are reshaping how Islamic finance structures are designed and implemented across international markets.

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority has finalized comprehensive perimeter guidance for its cryptoasset regime, opening a five-month authorization window for firms, while the US Senate's procedural rejection of the CLARITY Act leaves American digital asset regulation to continue through agency action. This divergence highlights fundamentally different regulatory approaches: a legislatively anchored UK implementation path versus US reliance on existing statutory authorities as Congress debates market structu

HM Treasury has published a consultation proposing a significant overhaul of the UK's payment services and electronic money regulatory framework, aiming to create a more agile regime that accommodates tokenised payments, open banking innovations, and agentic AI while maintaining consumer protections and addressing financial crime risks.

The London Stock Exchange has implemented sweeping reforms to the AIM Rules, fundamentally reshaping admission requirements, transaction thresholds, and governance obligations for companies on the Alternative Investment Market. These changes eliminate longstanding requirements like working capital statements and corporate governance codes while introducing new features such as capital access windows and special voting shares, marking the most significant overhaul of AIM regulations in recent years.

The Financial Conduct Authority has released a comprehensive package of regulatory updates and findings covering investment management, wealth management, and consumer protection. Key developments include reforms to MiFID costs and charges disclosures, remuneration code changes, AIFM regime overhauls, and detailed reviews of firms' Consumer Duty compliance, financial crime controls, and governance frameworks.

Cryptoasset firms face a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape as the FCA's authorisation gateway opens on 30 September 2026. With the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2026 laid before Parliament and the FCA's finalised PERG 18 guidance published within 24 hours, firms must navigate significant perimeter changes including new stablecoin payment exclusions.

On 14 July 2026, HM Treasury published its long-awaited consultation on modernising the UK’s payment services and electronic money regulatory framework. The consultation is part of the Government’s National Payments Vision agenda, which aims to ensure that the UK has a trusted, world-leading payments ecosystem delivered on next generation technology, while preserving choice for consumers and businesses.

The European Parliament has published its negotiating position on SFDR 2.0, setting the stage for trilogue negotiations between the Commission, Parliament and Council. With the asset management industry hoping for relief from the complexities of SFDR 1.0, the Parliament's proposals claim to simplify the regime while maintaining credibility of sustainability-related investments.

Japan has enacted sweeping amendments to its Act on the Protection of Personal Information, introducing an administrative surcharge regime with monetary penalties for data protection violations, new protections for children under 16 and biometric data, and expanded exceptions for data utilization in statistical analysis and AI development. The reforms, which take effect in stages through 2028, fundamentally reshape Japan's privacy enforcement landscape by granting the Personal Information Protection Commiss

The SEC has issued a groundbreaking Innovation Exemption allowing tokenized securities venues to facilitate trading of tokenized NMS stocks using automated market makers and liquidity pools. This temporary five-year exemption from exchange and dealer registration requirements establishes conditions for permissioned blockchain-based trading while granting public companies a 30-day window to object to third-party tokenization of their securities.

The European Union's new Regulation on packaging and packaging waste has fundamentally transformed compliance requirements for companies placing packaged goods on the EU market, replacing decades-old directive-based frameworks with directly applicable product-law rules. While promising regulatory harmonization across member states, the reality presents a complex dual-compliance landscape where businesses must navigate both EU-wide packaging standards and diverging national implementation approaches.

A Delaware Court of Chancery decision examines whether an acquiror can terminate a $2.35 billion merger agreement when antitrust approval is delayed beyond the outside date. The case centers on whether the acquiror's abandonment of discussions with a competitor—which triggered an FTC investigation—constitutes "willful conduct" that prevents the buyer from walking away from the deal.

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has issued a circular that sets forth comprehensive guidelines and expectations for licensed corporations (LCs) regarding the responsible use...

The Delaware Court of Chancery imposed significant sanctions in a merger litigation case after finding that the company's controlling stockholder and senior officers recklessly destroyed Signal messages following legal hold notices. The court shifted the burden of proof by presuming certain facts favorable to plaintiffs, requiring defendants to rebut these presumptions with clear and convincing evidence rather than a preponderance standard.

The European Commission's Industrial Accelerator Act proposes to reshape battery supply chains by conditioning access to EU public procurement and support schemes on strict origin requirements. As China controls over 80% of global battery manufacturing capacity, the legislation introduces escalating component-count thresholds that could fundamentally alter market access, financing structures, and supplier eligibility across the battery value chain.

Spain's draft Royal Decree introduces stringent energy sustainability, environmental, resilience and digital sovereignty requirements for data centers, including renewable additionality, hourly correlation, and efficiency standards. The regulation applies to all access and connection permits obtained after entry into force, with specific compliance deadlines for projects in progress and those with granted permits not yet connected to the grid.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, introducing two tailored exemptions from Securities Act registration requirements for certain offerings of covered investment contracts involving crypto assets. The proposal establishes a startup exemption allowing up to $5 million in offerings over four years and a two-tier fundraising exemption permitting offerings up to $75 million...

California has enacted a comprehensive package of four bills that fundamentally reshape online safety protections for minors, targeting addictive design features, data privacy practices, age verification systems, and platform liability. These new laws establish strict requirements for social media companies, including mandatory stripped-down interfaces for users under 16, enhanced privacy defaults, and potential damages up to $1 million for negligent harm to children. The legislation represents one of the m