Welcome to the FinReg Monthly Update, a regular bulletin highlighting the latest developments in UK, EU and international financial services regulation.
Key Developments in July 2026:
United Kingdom
General Financial Services – Cross Sector
31 July – FCA Handbook: The FCA has published Handbook Notice 143, which sets out changes to the FCA Handbook made by the FCA board on 25 June 2026 and 30 July 2026.
27 July – Consumer Duty: The FCA has published its findings following a review of firms’ approaches to monitoring outcomes under the Consumer Duty.
15 July – Economic Growth: The Bank of England has published a speech by Andrew Bailey, Governor, on how well-designed regulation can support sustainable economic growth. Mr Bailey addresses the three areas of regulating bank capital, payments and tokenisation and the opportunities and risks posed by AI.
15 July – Financial Services Growth / Competitiveness: HM Treasury has published an update on delivery of its Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy one year after its launch.
15 July – UK-US Collaboration: HM Treasury has published a policy paper setting out recommendations of the Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future to advance UK-US financial services collaboration, focusing on digital assets and capital markets.
15 July – AI Adoption Plan: HM Treasury has published the AI adoption plan for the UK financial services sector developed by the Financial Services AI Champions.
7 July – Consumer Duty: The FCA has published the second edition of its Enforcement Watch newsletter, which focuses on its recent approach to supervising and enforcing the Consumer Duty.
9 July – Financial Services Growth / Competitiveness: The House of Lords Financial Services Regulation Committee has published the FCA’s and PRA’s one-year update on their progress on growth and international competitiveness in response to the Committee’s second report on the FCA and PRA secondary objective of facilitating the UK economy’s growth and international competitiveness.
Asset Management / Wealth Management
22 July – Financial Crime Controls: The FCA has published the findings from a review of financial crime systems and controls at firms in the asset management and alternatives sector.
14 July – UK AIFM Regime: The FCA has published a consultation paper (CP26/28) on the UK regime for alternative investment fund managers. Please refer to our article on this topic here.
14 July – UK AIFM Regime: HM Treasury has published a policy note on the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Regulations 2026, a draft version of which has been published alongside the note. Please refer to our article on this topic here.
14 July – FCA Remuneration Reform: The FCA has published a consultation paper on proposed reforms to the remuneration regime for in-scope FCA solo-regulated firms, including investment firms, AIFMs and UCITS management companies (CP26/27). Please refer to our article on this topic here.
14 July – FCA Fund Reporting: The FCA has published a consultation paper on a proposed new regulatory reporting framework for fund data, called Fund Reporting for Asset Management Entities (CP26/26). Please refer to our article on this topic here.
Banking / Payments / Consumer Credit
15 July – Ring-Fencing: HM Treasury has published a consultation paper on reforming the ring-fencing regime for banks.
15 July – Payments Reform: HM Treasury has published a consultation paper on its approach to modernising payment services regulation.
7 July – UK Bank Capital Requirements: The Bank of England has published a Financial Stability in Focus setting out the Financial Policy Committee’s plans to work with the PRA on a package of reforms to UK bank capital requirements.
7 July – Financial Stability Report: The Bank of England has published the Financial Stability Report for July 2026 and the record of the meeting of its Financial Policy Committee on 26 June 2026.
Insurance
29 July – UK Solvency II: The PRA has published a policy statement on post-implementation amendments relating to reporting and disclosure under UK Solvency II and targeted amendments to own funds requirements (PS18/26).
23 July – Conflicts of Interest: The FCA has published a new webpage setting out expectations on how general insurance firms should manage conflicts of interest arising from vertically integrated business models.
22 July – Friendly Societies: The PRA has published a consultation paper on amalgamations and transfers of insurance friendly societies (CP12/26).
14 July – Captive Insurance: The PRA has published a consultation paper on a bespoke regime for captive insurance companies (CP11/26), alongside an equivalent consultation paper (CP26/29) published by the FCA. The consultation papers set out proposals for a tailored, proportionate and competitive captive insurance regulatory framework.
Cryptoassets
13 July – Tokenisation: HM Treasury has published the first report from the UK’s wholesale digital markets champion, setting out a framework for the UK financial sector to drive tokenisation of wholesale financial markets.
Securities / Capital Markets
31 July – FCA: The FCA has published a consultation paper on supporting equity market transparency and considering market structure developments (CP26/30).
European Union
Banking
17 July – Sector Competitiveness: The European Commission has adopted a communication on strengthening the competitiveness of the EU banking sector.
7 July – CRD VI: The EBA has published its final report and guidelines on the authorisation of third-country branches under the CRD IV Directive (2013/36/EU), as amended by the CRD VI Directive ((EU) 2024/1619).
Insurance
16 July – Solvency II: The European Commission has adopted a Delegated Regulation supplementing the Solvency II Directive (2009/138/EC), as amended by the Solvency II Amending Directive ((EU) 2025/2), with regulatory technical standards specifying the factors to consider when identifying undertakings that are under dominant or significant influence.
8 July – Insurance Recovery and Resolution: EIOPA has published its final set of consultation papers relating to the implementation of the Insurance Recovery and Resolution Directive ((EU) 2025/1) (IRRD).
8 July – Insurance Recovery and Resolution: EIOPA has published its third set of final reports on the implementation of the Insurance Recovery and Resolution Directive ((EU) 2025/1) (IRRD), containing draft guidelines and regulatory technical standards (RTS).
6 July – Value: EIOPA has published a revised methodology for setting value for money benchmarks for unit-linked and hybrid insurance products.
Securities / Capital Markets
23 July – Order Execution: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/825, supplementing the MiFID II Directive (2014/65/EU) with regulatory technical standards specifying the criteria to be taken into account by investment firms when establishing and assessing the effectiveness of their order execution policies, has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
16 July – Market Abuse Regulation: Delegated Regulations supplementing the Market Abuse Regulation (596/2014) in respect of disclosure of inside information in protracted processes, permission for trading during closed periods and the list of designated trading venues that have a significant cross-border dimension have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Sustainable Finance / ESG
30 July – ESG Ratings: Two Commission Delegated Regulations supplementing the ESG Ratings Regulation ((EU) 2024/3005) relating to fees charged to, and fines and penalty payments imposed on, ESG rating providers by ESMA have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
28 July – ESG Ratings: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/871, which sets out regulatory technical standards specifying the elements of ESG rating products to be disclosed to the public and to users of ESG ratings, rated items and issuers of rated items under the ESG Ratings Regulation ((EU) 2024/3005), has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
23 July – CSRD: EFRAG published an “Exposure Draft” of the proposed sustainability reporting standards for certain non-EU undertakings under Article 40a of the Accounting Directive, known as the “ESRS-40a Standards”. The Exposure Draft sets out how in-scope non-EU groups would report under the CSRD framework. Please refer to our article on this topic here.
Financial Crime / Enforcement / Sanctions
United States
General Financial Services – Cross Sector
16 July – SEC Proposes Regulation E-Delivery to Expand Electronic Delivery of Required Information:The SEC proposed Regulation E-Delivery, a new rule that would expand the ability of issuers, broker-dealers, investment advisers, and others to use electronic delivery to meet information delivery requirements under U.S. federal securities laws. Under the proposal, required regulatory information could be delivered electronically without first obtaining affirmative consent from the recipient. This would generally supersede the Commission’s prior guidance-based e-delivery approach. The range of information deliverable electronically would be extensive, including fund prospectuses, fund annual and semi-annual shareholder reports, proxy statements, trade confirmations, disclosures pursuant to Form CRS, and Form ADV Part 2 Brochures. The proposal includes a transition process under which current paper recipients would receive notices providing information about the upcoming transition and the ability to opt out of e-delivery. Chairman Atkins described the default to paper delivery as “a relic, not a standard.” Comments on the proposal are due by September 21.
7 July – SEC Publishes 2026 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions: The SEC published its 2026 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (the “Reg Flex Agenda”), reflecting the agency’s current rulemaking priorities under Chairman Paul S. Atkins. The agenda includes potential reforms to the pay-to-play rule, amendments to the investment adviser and broker-dealer recordkeeping rules to address concerns arising from off-channel communications enforcement actions, rulemaking to facilitate retail investor participation in private markets, and rulemaking clarifying the status of “finders.” The agenda also carries over several previously listed items, including amendments to the Custody Rule, amendments to Form PF, and amendments to Rule 17a-7 under the Investment Company Act to permit certain affiliate cross trades. Notably, the joint SEC-FinCEN rulemaking that would have required investment advisers to adopt customer identification programs has been dropped from the agenda.
Asset Management / Wealth Management
17 July – Close of Comment Period for California’s Fair Investment Practices by Venture Capital Companies Regulations: The comment period for the proposed regulations which would implement the Fair Investment Practices by Venture Capital Companies Act (“FIPVCC”) closed on July 17. Proskauer submitted a comment letter to the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation setting out several recommendations on how to improve the accuracy and usefulness of the FIPVCC. Separately, a Colorado venture capital firm filed a complaint in the Eastern District of California challenging FIPVCC, arguing that violates several aspects of the Constitution, including the First Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause and the Due Process and Commerce Clauses.
13 July – SEC Charges Former Registered Adviser Representative for Failing to Disclose Conflicts of Interest: The SEC announced settled charges against a former registered investment adviser representative for failing to adequately disclose conflicts of interest in connection with his advisory clients’ investments. According to the SEC’s order, from August 2020 through January 2023, the representative advised clients on the advantages of investing in a series of private real estate securities offerings but failed to disclose that he received both direct and indirect financial compensation from the sponsors of those offerings. The SEC alleged that the representative held ownership interests in entities that stood to receive substantial distributions based upon the projects’ success, creating an incentive to recommend these investments over others and to advise certain clients to use leverage to fund these investments. The representative paid a civil penalty of $125,000.
Securities / Capital Markets
27 July – Close of Comment Period for CFTC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to amend Rule 40.11: The comment period on the proposed amendments to CFTC Regulation 40.11, which sets out a framework regarding the application of Section 5c(5)(C) of the Commodity Exchange Act to event contracts, expired on July 27. The CFTC reports receiving 1,446 comments. Proskauer submitted a comment letter recommending refinements that would provide greater certainty for market participants, encourage innovation while preserving market integrity, and improve the administration of the Commission’s proposed public interest review framework.
24 July – CFTC Releases Advisory on Self Certification of an Event Contract Series: The CFTC issued an advisory addressing the correct self-certification process for an event contract series, reiterating the CFTC’s position that broad, template-style self-certifications should not be submitted. In addition, the advisory clarified when similar covered event contracts may be certified as a class or must instead be submitted for approval under Commission Regulation Sections 40.2(d) or 40.3.
23 July – SEC Schedules Roundtable on 24-hour trading: The SEC announced that it will host a public roundtable on September 17, to examine the transition toward 24‑hour trading in the U.S. equity markets. The roundtable will address topics including preparations to support overnight trading, operational resilience in a continuous trading environment, and the opportunities and challenges associated with expanding trading hours. Chairman Atkins expressed enthusiasm for aligning U.S. equity markets with international markets that already operate on a continuous basis, while emphasizing the importance of maintaining robust investor and customer protections. The SEC has also invited members of the public to submit their comments on their views on 24-hour trading. The CFTC, meanwhile, extended the comment period on a proposal that would have permitted 24/7 trading in certain energy derivatives markets and stayed the approval of a proposed crude oil contract that would have traded 24/7.
Financial Crime / Enforcement / Sanctions
31 July – CFTC Settles Manipulation Charges Against Former Congressman Over Event Contract Manipulation: The CFTC settled charges against a former Congressman for manipulative trading in an event contract tied to whether he would attend the 2026 State of the Union. The order found that, while holding both “yes” and “no” positions relating to his own attendance, he made a series of social media posts containing material misrepresentations and omissions about his plans, including after he had canceled travel reservations, that moved the contract’s price in a direction favorable to his positions before he exited at a profit. Notably, the enforcement action was framed as a market manipulation case rather than one based on confidential information because generally there would be no such thing as “insider trading” on one’s own future intentions. The former Congressman agreed to disgorge approximately $18 thousand in trading profits, pay a civil penalty of the same amount, and accept a three-year trading ban.
27 July – SEC Announces Charges against Investment Adviser for Causing Violations of the Investment Company Act: The SEC announced a settled enforcement action against an investment adviser for causing its registered investment company clients to engage in prohibited affiliate transactions, exceed permitted leverage thresholds without timely notification, fail to provide notices to investors regarding return of capital distributions, and fail to adopt and implement policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent violations of the federal securities laws. The investment adviser paid a civil penalty of $400,000.