Introduction
The Australian Government has released exposure draft legislation that, if passed, will significantly transform the regulatory framework in the digital assets space. The proposals aim to bring digital asset and tokenised custody platforms within the financial services regulatory perimeter under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Corporations Act), requiring operators of them to
On 27 October 2025, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published information for firms looking to offer crypto exchange traded notes (cETNs).
Background
The FCA explained that it lifted the ban on retail access to certain cETNS on 8 October 2025, meaning that retail consumers can now access cETNS when they are
On 14 October 2025, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a Consultation Paper (CP25/28) setting out proposals to encourage the adoption of tokenisation and tokenised funds in the UK.
We have now released a new briefing note on the FCA’s latest proposals and what this means for firms.
On 24 October 2025, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the launch of a Scale-up unit that will be jointly led by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).
Overview
The Chancellor explained that the Scale-up Unit will provide growing financial sector regulated firms with tailored support and
On 24 October 2025, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a press release welcoming the strong initial engagement by Member State national competent authorities (NCAs) on cyber risk and digital resilience and called for continued efforts on the Union Strategic Supervisory Priorities (USSPs). ESMA notes that since
On 21 October 2025, the government issued a press release regarding a proposed new AI Growth Lab which will pilot responsible artificial intelligence (AI) which can otherwise be held back by certain regulation. The press release states that the government will now move ahead with a public call for views on its AI
On 17 October 2025, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) updated its Q&As under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) with two new entries (Q&A 2653 and Q&A 2654). The updates provide further clarification on (i) how to distinguish between different execution services, and (ii) the treatment of
On 16 October 2025, the European Central Bank (ECB) published a speech by a member of its supervisory board, Pedro Machado. The speech was given at the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) Conference on Digitalisation and was entitled Time is on our side: Embracing digital change while ensuring stability.
Mr Machado’s
On 15 October 2025, the Bank of England (BoE) published its approach to innovation in artificial intelligence (AI), distributed ledger technology (DLT) and quantum computing.
The publication outlines the BoE’s approach to creating an environment in the financial services sector that ensures responsible innovation while setting out the work
On 15 October, the Bank of England (BoE) published a speech by Sarah Breeden (Deputy Governor, Financial Stability) entitled ‘Not just token gestures’.
Sarah Breeden discussed the steps the BoE is taking in relation responsible innovation in finance given ongoing technological change and developments. She highlighted the BoEs approach to promoting responsible innovation