On 5 November 2025, HM Treasury published correspondence from the Economic Secretary to the Treasury commissioning the Financial Services Skills Commission to produce a report on AI and other disruptive technologies as provided for in the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy published in July 2025.
FinTech
ASIC updates INFO 225 and issues a class no-action letter for digital asset businesses
On 29 October 2025, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) updated Information Sheet 225 Digital assets: Financial Products and Services (INFO 225).
Background
In December 2024, ASIC consulted on updates to INFO 225 (CP 381) to clarify when certain digital assets are financial products. CP 381 also sought…
Mining for coverage – are insurers ready to dig into Australia’s digital assets market? A first look at the proposed regulation
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…
FCA provides information for firms looking to offer cETNs
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…
New briefing note – Fund tokenisation: What are the FCA’s latest proposals?
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.
Chancellor announces the launch of a new joint FCA and PRA Scale-up unit
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…
ESMA – Cyber risk and digital resilience will drive the agenda of ESMA’s Union Strategic Supervisory Priorities for 2026
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…
AI Growth Lab
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…
ESMA publishes new MiCAR Q&As on execution service classification and transitional white paper obligations
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…
ECB speech – Time is on our side: Embracing digital change while ensuring stability
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…