FinTech

On 4 February 2026, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/102) (the Regulations) were published on legislation.gov.uk, together with an explanatory memorandum. The Regulations will establish a regulatory regime for cryptoasset activities under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA).

Background

A draft of the regulations

On 28 January 20206, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a webpage with the official translations of its guidelines setting out the criteria to assess knowledge and competence under the Regulation on markets in cryptoassets ((EU) 2023/1114) (MiCA), the final report on which was published in July 2025.

Summary

This episode of Global Regulation Tomorrow Plus is the first in our new mini-series on artificial intelligence in financial services. We discuss the Treasury Committee’s landmark report on AI in UK financial services, published on 22 January 2026.

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On 29 January 2026, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) updated its webpage in relation to new regime for cryptoasset regulation to confirm that the application period for firms that want to undertake the new cryptoasset regulated activities will be open from 30 September 2026 to 28 February 2027.

The new cryptoasset regime is

On 29 January 2026, the House of Lords Financial Services Regulation Committee (Committee) launched a Call for Evidence for its inquiry on the growth and proposed regulation of stablecoins in the UK.

The Committee have launched this inquiry to assess the opportunities and risks that the growth of stablecoins may present for the

The Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has released a Circular addressed to all Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) outlining Enhanced Measures for High‑Risk Jurisdictions. This update follows the October 2025 Financial Action Task Force (FATF) list revision and the UAE National Committee’s Decision No. (15) of 2025.

In the latest episode of our mini-series looking at the UK’s approach to regulating cryptoassets we discuss the proposed admissions and disclosures regime for Cryptoassets as set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2025 and the Financial Conduct Authority’s recent consultation paper on this topic (CP25/41).

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