Payments Regulation

In short: Finfluencer financial promotions are caught by the restriction in section 21 FSMA where they concern a controlled activity or a controlled investment, which covers consumer credit, qualifying cryptoassets and investments. The authorised firm behind the affiliate is responsible for the post, because section 21(13) treats causing a communication to be made as communicating…

In short: The Mills Review, published by the FCA on 6 July 2026, finds that accountability in retail financial services does not shift as AI takes on more of the work. The Senior Managers Regime still applies, firms remain answerable for AI-driven outcomes, and the report sets out seven recommendations for the FCA Board to…

In short: APP fraud reimbursement, mandatory over Faster Payments since 7 October 2024, cut in-scope scam losses by around 21% (about £73m a year) in its first year, the Payment Systems Regulator’s independent evaluation by Frontier Economics found on 1 July 2026. Reimbursement of losses rose from 54% to 65%. A formal consultation follows in…

In short: product level arrangements are the rules, standards and processes through which specific payment products will run on the UK’s next-generation payments infrastructure. In its update of 2 July 2026, the Payments Vision Delivery Committee set out its expectation of a single, centrally run core infrastructure scheme settling in central bank money, with competition…

In short: OFSI sanctions enforcement now carries real cost for the banks and payment intermediaries that process a transaction, not just the customers that instruct it. Between 19 March and 26 May 2026, OFSI fined Apple Distribution International £390,000, Deutsche Bank AG London Branch £165,000 and Sabre Global Technologies £1,000,920.59 for Russia sanctions breaches, all…

In short: The open banking competition regime is changing basis. Open banking began as a CMA competition remedy under the Retail Banking Market Investigation Order 2017. The smart data statutory instrument under Part 1 of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 is expected in Q4 2026 and would move it onto an FCA-supervised statutory…

In short: The next-generation retail payments infrastructure is the new core clearing and messaging layer the UK plans to build to replace the systems behind Faster Payments and Bacs. The Retail Payments Infrastructure Board’s consultation, open from 25 June to 11 September 2026, asks how it should be designed, including to support account-to-account payments at…

In short: UK wholesale market tokenisation is moving from pilots to production. On 18 May 2026 the FCA and the Bank of England published a joint Call for Input, building on the live Digital Securities Sandbox and the finalised fund tokenisation rules in PS26/7. Firms can already issue, trade and settle tokenised securities in a…

In short: The FCA areas of research interest, published on 17 June 2026, set out the priority questions the regulator wants researchers to help answer across growth, wholesale markets, consumers and regulation. They are not rules or a consultation. They show where the FCA’s evidence base is thin, and where its thinking may move next….

In short: The FCA penalty policy changes proposed in CP26/19 (published 15 June 2026, consultation closes 10 August 2026) would amend the Decision Procedure and Penalties Manual (DEPP) for the first time on these thresholds since 2010. These are proposals, not yet in force. They would apply to payment and e-money firms and the individuals…

In short: the FCA AI approach pairs no new AI rules with supervised engagement. The Consumer Duty, the SM&CR and existing governance expectations govern AI in UK financial services, while the AI Lab offers five engagement routes. The AI Input Zone closes on 19 June 2026, feeding a good and poor practice publication later in…