With one month to go, fund managers should be ramping up their preparations for complying with the legislative changes to European Union (“EU”) Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (“AIFMD”), commonly referred to as “AIFMD 2.0”, which will come into effect in EU member countries on 16 April 2026.
The majority of the changes will apply
On 12 February 2026, HM Treasury published a Consultation Paper on reforming the Appointed Representatives regime (“ARs” and the “AR Regime”). The Consultation Paper builds on the Policy Statement published by HM Treasury on 11 August 2025, which contained the Government’s initial proposals for legislative changes designed to ensure continued confidence
Welcome to the FinReg Monthly Update, a regular bulletin highlighting the latest developments in UK, EU and U.S. financial services regulation.
Key developments in January 2026:
2 February – Client Categorisation: The United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority’s (“FCA”) consultation paper (CP25/36) on its proposals to amend the client
As 2026 begins, our Regulatory team has mapped the key legal and regulatory developments affecting managers of investment funds (including private equity, private credit, hedge and other alternative funds), insurers and other financial institutions operating in the UK, U.S. and EU. We have distilled the main dates into an easy-to-read timeline with brief commentary on
Welcome to the FinReg Monthly Update, a regular bulletin highlighting the latest developments in UK, EU and U.S. financial services regulation.
Key developments in December 2025:
18 December – AIFMD 2.0 Liquidity Management Tools: European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) published an amended version of its guidelines on
On 15 December 2025, HM Treasury took a significant step towards establishing a UK regulatory regime for cryptoassets by laying the draft ‘Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2005’ (the “Draft Order”) before Parliament.
The Draft Order aims to set the statutory foundation for a new UK cryptoasset regulatory regime
On 16 December 2025, the European Parliament adopted a significantly streamlined version of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (“CSRD”). This represents a very significant recalibration of the EU’s sustainability reporting regime.
CSRD’s evolution
The CSRD represents the EU’s flagship framework for mandatory sustainability reporting. Originally designed to apply to a broad range of EU and
On 9 December 2025, negotiators from the European Parliament (EP), the Council of the European Union (the Council) and the European Commission reached a provisional political agreement on the final text of their “Omnibus” package amending the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
Though the final text is not yet published, the publicly-available press-releases confirm a
Background
On 8 December 2025, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published a consultation paper (CP25/36) on amending its rules on client categorisation and conflicts of interest (the “Consultation Paper”).
The Consultation Paper is seeking to reset how firms distinguish between retail and professional clients, as the rules currently stem
Welcome to the FinReg Monthly Update, a regular bulletin highlighting the latest developments in UK, EU and U.S. financial services regulation.
Key developments in November 2025:
17 November – Liquidity Management RTS: The European Commission has adopted Delegated Regulations containing regulatory technical standards (RTS) on liquidity management tools under the Alternative