/regulation & compliance

News and resources on regulation, compliance, legal and governance issues for banks and fintechs.

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Expert opinions

Ben O'Brien

Ben O'Brien Managing Director at Jaywing

PRA CP21/25: Towards a unified regulatory data framework

The Bank of England’s Future Banking Data (FBD) programme has released its first major output: Consultation Paper CP21/25. It proposes a more streamlined approach to regulatory reporting, aimed at easing the administrative load for UK banks, building societies, and investment firms. This represents an important development. The FBD programme merges...

/regulation

Ben O'Brien

Ben O'Brien Managing Director at Jaywing

How confident are you in your risk data?

Timely, accurate and high-quality data is the foundation of effective modelling, analysis and risk management. Regulators, through initiatives such as BCBS 239, have sought to strengthen control and ensure data is fit for purpose. Yet supervisors often expect straightforward answers, and struggle with ranges, error margins and the uncertainty that...

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Nick Jones

Nick Jones CEO at Zumo

The crypto sector is for turning

The rapidly growing crypto industry continues to make headlines, with the sector’s market capitalisation breaching the $4 trillion mark recently. It’s fair to say that developments are being led by the US. The Trump administration recognises that digital assets offer a significant economic growth opportunity, and the passing of the GENIUS Act has b...

/regulation /crypto

Anand Salodkar

Anand Salodkar Manager at Dolby Labs

Google’s Agent Payments Protocol (AP2): A New Chapter in Agentic Commerce

The way we pay for things has always followed a familiar pattern: a human browses, selects, and approves a transaction at checkout. But what happens when that “human in the loop” is replaced or at least supported by an intelligent agent that can shop, negotiate, and purchase on our behalf? Google’s recent announcement of the Agent Payments Protoco...

/payments /regulation

John Bertrand

John Bertrand MD at Tec 8 Limited

Stablecoin Renaissance for Financial Services

The new stablecoin regulations in the US, Wyoming, and Hong Kong represent a significant shift toward ongoing monitoring rather than periodic compliance checks. The HKMA's requirements now include: Regular customer information updates Continuous transaction monitoring for suspicious activities Periodic risk profile reviews The penalties are subst...

/ai /regulation Banking Strategy, Digital and Transformation

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Research

Survey

Payments 2030: What’s shaping the future?

Assessing the global state of payments modernisation in our latest Finextra survey. As we approach 2030, the payments landscape is transforming faster than ever. Many financial institutions across the world are on a digital transformation journey, investing in new technologies. However, many are held back by legacy systems in a world where speed, resilience, and reliability are critical.  Finextra Research, in association with ACI Worldwide, surveyed 162 global industry leaders in the summer of 2025 to reveal how organisations are aligning their payments strategies with market and regulatory demands, the challenges they face, and the technological and operational shifts shaping investment decisions.  Input from leaders at The Clearing House, Deutsche Bank, and the US Faster Payments Council reinforce both the significant progress made and the critical work ahead. As financial institutions navigate ongoing shifts in the payments landscape, modernising cloud and infrastructure capabilities has become central to delivering real-time, resilient, and scalable services.  Download this Finextra survey report, produced in association with ACI Worldwide, to discover:  Current and predicted cloud adoption trends;  Instant payment plans and adoption timelines;  A2A payment growth forecasts;  Readiness for rising digital payment volumes;  Budget priorities for compliance vs innovation;  Innovations set to disrupt the payments ecosystem; and  Strategies for navigating regulatory pressures such as ISO 20022. 

349 downloads

Future of Report

The Future of Cross Border Payments 2026: Strategies for Success

A special edition for Sibos Europe 2025 The pace of the financial industry is unrivalled. The cross-border payments landscape is rapidly evolving and maturing as emerging technologies develop, new regulations come into play, fraud dominates, and global consumers demand instant payments.  How is the industry responding to these changes, and what strategies are banking experts and leaders deploying to combat the onslaught of challenges as the future draws nearer? Sibos 2025 in Frankfurt will be a forum for conversation on the next steps for the financial sector, and how to conquer the next frontier of global finance.  This Finextra report analyses key innovations, explorations, and sentiments on the cross-border payments landscape, featuring key insights from Absa CIB, BNY, Crown Agents Bank, Commerzbank, the Financial Conduct Authority, FV Bank, HSBC, ING, Januar, JP Morgan, National Australian Bank, RBI, Santander, Société Générale, Standard Bank, Standard Chartered, State Street, and ZA Bank. It discusses:  Agentic AI and GenAI revolutionising cross-border payments;  The implications of a post-ISO 20022 migration world;  How banks are future-proofing their cross-border payments frameworks;  Financial crime and fraud prevention in payments;  The digital transition to cloud native infrastructure;  Challenges and opportunities in instant payments;  How rapidly emerging technologies will define the future of cross-border payments. 

566 downloads

Event Report

The Outsourcing Imperative: The strategic importance of partnerships for cloud-based payments

The financial services industry is at a pivotal moment where cloud technology and strategic outsourcing offer pathways to enhanced operational efficiency and competitiveness. Explore the Outsourcing Imperative.  In today’s rapidly evolving financial landscape, managing complex financial systems has become increasingly challenging for banking providers. The demands of mature cloud technology, evolving payment rails, and channels such as real-time cross-border payments and stablecoins require innovative solutions. Additionally, regulatory differences by country and region add another layer of complexity, especially for banks operating across multiple borders.  With the buzz around generative AI and other emerging tools, financial institutions must consider outsourcing certain functions to maintain competitiveness and efficiency. Enhancing user experience and regulatory compliance are paramount, as customers now expect a variety of payment options, from digital wallets to AI-driven payment agents. Outsourcing becomes key in today’s payments landscape, and financial institutions are increasingly turning to Payments as a Service (PaaS) to navigate the complexities of modern banking operations.  This report highlights the key takeaways of a Finextra webinar, hosted in association with FIS, by a panel of industry experts. Discover:   Drivers for adopting cloud-based payments;  Why banks and cloud are still an unfinished story;  Why outsourcing is necessary in today's payments landscape; and  How banks can change the status quo through partnerships. 

175 downloads

/regulation

FinextraTV

Can Open Finance & Agentic AI Enable a Future of Financial Freedom?

Discussing the role of Agentic AI and Open Finance in the future of financial services, Jess Turner, Executive Vice President, Global Head of Open Finance and Developer Experience, Mastercard joined the FinextraTV studio at Mastercard's RiskX event in Rome. Turner explains the importance of creating a comfortable developer experience to enable solutions that give AI agents autonomy to act safely and securely with consumers towards a freer, open finance future. As part of this, she describes the key challenges to overcome from data governance to agentic discoverability and consumer consent.

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Events

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Long reads

Hamish Monk

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...

Chris Holmes

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...

Chris Holmes

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...