Europe's financial regulators have signalled that AI-driven cyber threats now warrant supervisory attention in their own right. On 7 July 2026, the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) — the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) — publicly backed a warning from the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) that frontier AI models pose systemic cyber risks to th

The Payments Vision Delivery Committee (PVDC) has published a policy paper clarifying how the United Kingdom's next-generation retail payments infrastructure should accommodate financial crime controls, providing supporting context to the design consultation opened by the Retail Payments Infrastructure Board (RPIB) on 25 June 2026. The RPIB consultation, chaired by the Bank of England, addresses the core clearing and messaging layer that will eventually replace the rails unde

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published the final tranche of its cryptoasset rulebook, completing the regulatory roadmap that will govern trading platforms, custodians, intermediaries, stablecoin issuers and staking arrangers operating in the United Kingdom. The framework crystallises the perimeter established when legislation brought cryptoassets within the FCA's remit in February 2026, and sets a hard commencement date of 25 October 2027 for the mandatory author

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published a Consultation Paper setting out a draft methodology for the calculation of fines under its supervisory mandate for the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). The stated objective is to ensure that penalties imposed on issuers of significant crypto-assets are consistent, proportionate and transparent. Under MiCA, the EBA assumes direct supervisory responsibility where an asset-referenced token (ART), or an e-money token

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), acting jointly with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking implementing the customer identification program (CIP) provisions of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act (GEN

The US Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued an advisory setting out typologies and red flag indicators for financial institutions to detect and report payroll tax fraud, identity theft and money laundering linked to unauthorised employment schemes. The advisory, issued jointly with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the National Credit Union Administration (

On 19 May 2026, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) issued two new general trade licences under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (the Russia Regulations), both of which came into force on 20 May 2026. The licences sit alongside the latest amendments to the regime, which introduced new prohibitions on the import of processed oil products derived from Russian crude and on the maritime transportation of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) — measures that

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England have set out a shared long-term vision for the use of tokenisation and distributed ledger technology (DLT) in UK wholesale markets, giving firms greater certainty as they consider adopting these technologies. Tokenisation involves creating a digital representation of a real-world asset – such as a share, bond or unit of currency – on a digital ledger. The regulators believe it has the potential to streamline the is

On 15 May 2026, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Bank of England (BoE) and His Majesty's Treasury (HMT) published a joint statement setting out their expectations for how regulated firms and financial market infrastructures (FMIs) should respond to the escalating cyber risks posed by frontier artificial intelligence (AI) models. The authorities warn that the cyber capabilities of current frontier AI models are already exceeding what a skilled practitioner could achi

The UK government has brought into force the Sanctions (EU Exit) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2026, introducing a series of technical but operationally significant updates for firms subject to UK sanctions compliance obligations. The changes affect reporting thresholds, licensing procedures and the interpretation of existing sanctions exceptions. Firms operating in regulated sectors, particularly those with anti-money laundering and sanctions reporting obligations,

FinCEN’s 11 May 2026 Alert signals a renewed enforcement focus on Iran-linked illicit finance, with particular attention on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), its oil smuggling networks and the financial infrastructure used to move proceeds through the international system. The Alert is significant because it connects several core risk areas: shadow fleet activity, front company abuse, exchange house networks, money services businesses, trust and company service pr

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued a 60 day notice inviting public comment on the renewal of the Office of Management and Budget control number covering the Registration of Money Services Business (RMSB) framework. Published on 30 April 2026, the notice relates to requirements set out in 31 CFR 1022.380 and the continued use of FinCEN Form 107. The RMSB regime forms a core part of the Bank Secrecy Act compliance architecture in the United States, req