United Kingdom: Financial Services

The Financial Services and Markets Bill 2026-27 received its first reading in the House of Lords on 19 May 2026, the latest step in a recalibration of aspects of the UK's financial services regulatory framework.

Global financial regulators are advancing frameworks for artificial intelligence, stablecoins, and digital assets while addressing heightened cybersecurity threats from frontier AI models. Central banks and supervisory authorities across jurisdictions are establishing new working groups, issuing guidance, and signing cross-border cooperation agreements to manage emerging risks in tokenization, perpetual contracts, and payment system interoperability.

Financial services firms may have focussed so much resource on complying with extensive regulatory compliance obligations that the implications of the new Crime and Policing Act 2026...

The High Court sanctioned a contested restructuring plan in Re Waldorf Production UK plc, cramming down HMRC as a dissenting creditor and facilitating a $205 million sale to Harbour Energy.

A Court of Appeal case examines whether financial services regulations or property law principles take precedence when a sale and rent back agreement violates the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The dispute centered on whether innocent parties could recover property transferred to third parties after the original transaction breached regulatory requirements.

Private capital markets have transformed substantially over the past decade. Private credit has established itself as a mainstream asset class, sponsor-backed mid-market buyouts have grown increasingly sophisticated...

The case of Ping Fai Yuen v Fun Yung Li & Anor [2026] EWHC 532 (KB) has generated interest in legal circles because it concerns the law of conversion, and a claim by a husband against his estranged...

The private credit market has reached a critical inflection point in 2026, with $1.8tn in global assets under management creating both unprecedented opportunities and complex challenges.

The UK's Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR) is undergoing significant reforms, with Phase 1 changes now in effect and more flexibility coming soon.