29 April 2026: The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) released Market Watch 85, outlining how firms can use information sharing provisions under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 to prevent, detect and investigate economic crime, including criminal market abuse.
29 April 2026: The World Federation of Exchanges published a paper examining innovation in well-regulated financial markets, highlighting how innovation and investor protection can progress together and noting the potential for tokenization and distributed ledger technology in post-trade processes.
28 April 2026: The European Banking Authority (EBA) published the 2026 update of the list of closely correlated currencies used for capital requirements for foreign exchange risk under the standardized approach, submitting the revised list to the European Commission for endorsement.
28 April 2026: The Futures Industry Association (FIA) published a position paper on the European Commission’s Market Integration and Supervision Package, focusing on proposed amendments to ESMA Regulation, EMIR and the Settlement Finality framework.
28 April 2026: The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published an Occasional Paper examining how large cryptoasset platforms have evolved into “multifunction cryptoasset intermediaries,” offering services similar to banks and prime brokers but often lacking comparable prudential safeguards.
28 April 2026: The World Economic Forum published the report ‘Technology Convergence: The New Logic for Competitive Advantage,’ finding that competitive advantage will come from combining and scaling multiple technologies across operating systems, with cross-industry research and case studies identifying patterns for successful convergence.
27 April 2026: The European Commission completed its first review of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), finding the DMA fit for purpose and noting new opportunities for businesses and developers, including data portability, choice of search engines and restrictions on unauthorized profiling.
24 April 2026: The Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA, ESMA) published its Annual Report for 2025, focusing on consumer protection in digital financial markets, operational and cyber resilience, sustainable finance disclosures and cross-sectoral risk monitoring.
20 April 2026: The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) published an 18-month implementation roadmap for licensing, supervising and enforcing the new regime for digital asset and tokenized custody platforms, with phased guidance, licensing and enforcement culminating in full regime commencement in April 2027.
20 April 2026: Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) launched a new framework to pilot secondary trading of tokenized SFC-authorized investment products on licensed virtual asset trading platforms, aiming to broaden regulated access and enhance liquidity for retail investors.
20 April 2026: The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published revised guidelines on information exchange within Colleges of Supervisors, aiming to strengthen cross‑border supervisory cooperation through a more consistent and proportionate framework.
16 April 2026: The U.K.’s FCA issued final rules introducing a lighter‑touch short‑selling regime, reducing reporting burdens while maintaining regulatory oversight.
16 April 2026: The U.S. SEC launched a review of the Consolidated Audit Trail, seeking public input on governance, costs and data privacy protections.
16 April 2026: The BIS’ Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published an assessment finding that the U.K. has implemented the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures in a complete and largely consistent manner, while identifying targeted areas for improvement.
15 April 2026: Sweden’s Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen) outlined priorities in the fight against money laundering, emphasizing continued regulatory action and cross‑sector cooperation to counter criminal exploitation of financial systems.
14 April 2026: The International Capital Market Association (ICMA) published its Q2 2026 Quarterly Report, featuring analysis on tokenization and the Market Integration and Supervision Package.
13 April 2026: The European Central Bank (ECB) backed proposals to transfer EU crypto‑asset service provider supervision to ESMA, supporting a move away from fragmented national licensing regimes.
13 April 2026: Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) issued a warning to crypto traders regarding market manipulation conducted via APIs, including spoofing and coordinated trading practices.
10 April 2026: Japan’s Cabinet, acting on proposals from the Financial Services Agency (FSA) and SESC, approved amendments to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act extending insider trading and disclosure rules to crypto assets.
9 April 2026: Switzerland’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) published guidance on digital fraud risks, urging banks to strengthen governance, detection and response controls following supervisory findings of heightened operational and money laundering vulnerabilities.
7 April 2026: The Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE) published its position on the Market Integration and Supervision Package, calling for strengthened market structure, proportionate supervision and frameworks enabling responsible innovation.
7 April 2026: The ICMA, together with the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), released an updated briefing arguing that proposed changes to the Systematic Internaliser regime for bonds and derivatives should not harm market transparency or efficiency.
5 April 2026: The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) outlined enforcement priorities, signaling a focus on fraud, manipulation, insider trading in prediction markets, disruptive trading, retail fraud and serious AML/KYC violations.
2 April 2026: The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) announced amendments to its short‑selling rules, requiring dealers to have a reasonable expectation of settlement and to strengthen policies addressing client delivery failures, with the aim of enhancing market integrity and investor confidence.
2 April 2026: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a paper on tokenized finance, framing tokenization as a structural shift in financial architecture while warning of new risks linked to automation, fragmentation and faster stress transmission.
1 April 2026: Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) revised its Anti‑Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing guidelines and related FAQs, strengthening financial institutions’ AML/CFT frameworks with effect from 31 March 2026.
1 April 2026: Denmark’s Financial Supervisory Authority (Finanstilsynet) released 2025 capital markets enforcement statistics, reporting 319 market abuse proceedings, driven primarily by a rise in insider trading cases.
1 April 2026: Finland’s Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN‑FSA) published findings from a thematic review on alternative performance measure disclosures after IPOs, identifying recurring shortcomings in compliance with ESMA guidelines.
1 April 2026: Sweden’s Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen) warned consumers about 104 fraudulent trading platforms, targeting investor protection amid rising online investment scams.
