Regulation & Compliance - Long Reads, News, Articles & Research: Finextra

Safeguarding overhauled: What the FCA’s new rules means for payments firms

Charlotte Hill Partner at Charles Russell Speechlys

Safeguarding overhauled: What the FCA’s new rules means for payments firms

What’s the issue? On 7 August 2025, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published Policy Statement PS25/12, confirming sweeping changes to the UK safeguarding regime for payments and e-money institutions. The new Supplementary Regime will come into force on 7 May 2026. These changes represent a crucial recalibration of expectations around how c...

24 October 2025 /regulation

The GENIUS Act’s impact on foreign stablecoin issuers

Gavin Meyers Partner at Pierson Ferdinand LLP

The GENIUS Act’s impact on foreign stablecoin issuers

The US is in the midst of redrawing the map for stablecoins. With the signing of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act) into law on 18 July, 2025, foreign (non-US) stablecoin issuers face a new reality: issuing, offering, and/or selling payment stablecoins in the US will soon be tightly regulated, with...

17 October 2025 /regulation

Europe’s Instant Payments Regulation and the 9 October deadline, explained

Madhvi Sonia Head of Content at Finextra

Europe’s Instant Payments Regulation and the 9 October deadline, explained

Adopted by the European Parliament and the European Council in March 2024, the Instant Payments Regulation (IPR) was set in motion to speed up the roll-out of instant payments in Europe and cover credit transfers denominated in euro within the EU. This regulation also amends the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) regulation, adds specific provisions...

10 October 2025 /regulation

Hamish Monk Senior Reporter at Finextra

What is Verification of Payee?

Verification of Payee (VoP) is a pre-payment security measure which confirms whether a payment recipient’s name matches the bank account details provided by the payer, before a transaction is executed. Not to be confused with Confirmation of Payee (CoP) – which performs a similar function, though specific to the United Kingdom and introduced by P...

16 September 2025 /regulation

Is the UK 'overestimating the risk and underestimating the opportunity' of stablecoins?

Chris Holmes Peer at House of Lords

Is the UK 'overestimating the risk and underestimating the opportunity' of stablecoins?

I remember writing about the introduction of the Financial Services and Markets Bill in July 2022 and reflecting how the (then) Chancellor’s Mansion House speech had claimed “it reinforces the UK’s position as a leading centre for technology as we safely adopt crypto assets” stressing a “vision to make the UK one of the most dynamic financial cent...

04 August 2025 /regulation

The Data (Use and Access) Act has passed - what will change and what’s next?

Chris Holmes Peer at House of Lords

The Data (Use and Access) Act has passed - what will change and what’s next?

After six years in the making, the Data (Use and Access) Act is finally here. The Act gained Royal Assent on 19 June 2025 and is set to have a significant impact despite more controversial parts of the Bill being dropped before the law was passed. The Data Act amends the UK GDPR, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations and the Data Pr...

01 July 2025 /regulation

eIDAS 2.0: Europe’s digital future for regulating privacy and AML

Renate Prinz Partner at McDermott Will & Emery LLP

eIDAS 2.0: Europe’s digital future for regulating privacy and AML

This piece has been co-authored by Renate Prinz, partner, and Dr. Cornelius Hille, associate, at McDermott, Will & Emery. The European Union’s European Digital Identity Framework Regulation (eIDAS 2.0) introduces a standardised framework for digital identity and trust services across all EU Member States, massively benefiting anti-money launde...

18 June 2025 /regulation

Are we finally seeing the shift to blockchain-as-infrastructure?

Chris Holmes Peer at House of Lords

Are we finally seeing the shift to blockchain-as-infrastructure?

The real news about digital asset innovation is often drowned out by ‘crypto’ noise such as the collapse of FTX and the launch of Trump Coins, but what should we really be listening to? 2025 is the year that Stripe went all in, heralding reports of a stablecoin gold rush in financial services as the UK’s Insolvency Service announces they have hired...

17 June 2025 /regulation

How do we regulate a future not yet written?

Madhvi Sonia Head of Content at Finextra

How do we regulate a future not yet written?

This is an excerpt from The Future of European Fintech 2025: A Money20/20 Special Edition. According to the European Fintech Association, the fintech industry has attracted the largest share of all VC funding over the last five years, worth around $85 billion. This showcases the strong potential of fintech in Europe, and how the sector will be a d...

06 June 2025 /regulation

Will the Property (Digital Assets) Bill place the UK as a leader in cryptoassets?

Chris Holmes Peer at House of Lords

Will the Property (Digital Assets) Bill place the UK as a leader in cryptoassets?

The Property (Digital Assets etc.) Bill passed 3rd Reading in the House of Lords on 8 May 2025 and will now move to the House of Commons to go through its legislative stages there. It has been a privilege to serve on the Special Public Bill Committee for this important legal change developed by the Law Commission of England and Wales. This legal c...

19 May 2025 /regulation

How will new regulation impact US payments innovation?

Madhvi Sonia Head of Content at Finextra

How will new regulation impact US payments innovation?

This is an excerpt from The Future of US Digital Payments 2025: ACH & Beyond. While rules and regulations are the bedrock of financial services and payments, organisations across the US digital payments landscape must prioritise innovation, transaction quality, opportunity and financial reward at the same time as compliance in order to remain ...

08 May 2025 /regulation

FCA’s 5 year strategy: The UK’s shifting approach to digital assets and tokenisation

Chris Holmes Peer at House of Lords

FCA’s 5 year strategy: The UK’s shifting approach to digital assets and tokenisation

The UK needs to get serious about DeFi, digital assets, stablecoins, crypto, RWAs, tokenisation and the kind of compliance that supports innovation and protects consumers. Hopefully the days of politicians confusing bitcoin with blockchain are well behind us and there is now a greater appreciation of the potential of this technology, which is broad...

10 April 2025 /regulation

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