Global Regulator & Central Bank News Roundup

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has issued a circular setting a pilot framework under which it would consider allowing secondary trading by the public of tokenised SFC-authorised investment products in Hong Kong. The requirements are primarily designed to enable on-platform auto-matching trading of tokenised SFC-authorised open-ended funds on SFC-licensed virtual asset trading platforms (VATPs), with over-the-counter arrangements considered case by case. As of March 2026, 13 tokenised products were offered to the public and the assets under management of their tokenised classes had increased around seven-fold to $10.7 billion over the past year. The framework builds in measures on fair pricing, orderly trading, liquidity provision and disclosure for secondary trading, including beyond regular market hours. VATPs must apply the VATP Guidelines, execute trades only where clients have sufficient capital or fungible holdings, and implement controls such as a Price Deviation Alert against real-time or near real-time indicative NAV, alongside monitoring and other safeguards to curb excessive price moves and detect manipulation. Product providers are expected to ensure market-making and distribution arrangements (including at least one market maker), facilitate transfers between primary and secondary markets, expand offering document and online disclosures (including key risks and market-making details), obtain client risk acknowledgement before onboarding, and notify the SFC and investors promptly of suspensions or market-making disruptions. New tokenised products requiring authorisation, and existing authorised products adding tokenisation features, are subject to SFC prior consultation and approval where applicable, while intermediaries should discuss initial secondary-trading proposals with SFC case officers and notify the SFC and, where applicable, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority when arrangements change materially.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has outlined its implementation roadmap for bringing digital asset platforms (DAPs) and tokenised custody platforms (TCPs) into the financial services licensing regime from April 2027 under the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026. The roadmap sequences the transition over 18 months. In months 1 to 6, ASIC will run stakeholder roundtables, establish an industry advisory group, consult on standards and guidance, and end access to the INFO 225 class no-action position in June. In months 6 to 12, it will issue a new DAP/TCP regulatory guide and make instruments setting asset-holding, transactional and settlement, and financial standards. In months 12 to 18, operators may lodge financial services licence applications and operate under regulatory relief while applications are processed. From month 18, full ASIC supervision and enforcement begins. The proposed standards will translate market integrity, custody and financial-resource expectations into the DAP and TCP context. Transactional and settlement standards are expected to address platform integrity and trading conduct, including fair, orderly and transparent operation, execution practices, price transparency, listing criteria and trading-related disclosures. They will also cover monitoring for market abuse, suspicious activity reporting, operational resilience, record keeping, settlement arrangements and market-maker contracts. Asset-holding standards will focus on custody safeguards, including trust or equivalent holding structures, segregation and permitted use of client assets and money, staffing and security, reconciliation and reporting, withdrawal rights, liquidity and service provider oversight. Financial requirements are expected to include cash-needs, net tangible assets and auditor review. The guidance package will address the regime perimeter, licensing and authorisations, and interaction with existing financial product, financial market and clearing and settlement facility regimes.

The Australian Government has published exposure draft legislation for the Cash Distribution Framework Bill 2026, which would establish a legislative framework for regulating Australia’s cash distribution system and introduce crisis management and resolution powers for services critical to the availability of cash. The Bill is intended to complement the cash acceptance mandate that commenced on 1 January 2026, which requires retail businesses supplying fuel and groceries to accept cash for in-person payments of up to AUD 500 between 7am and 9pm. The framework would be administered by the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, with the Reserve Bank of Australia empowered to designate entities with a significant role in cash distribution and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission overseeing service and access arrangements. Designated entities would be subject to reporting, record-keeping and negotiation obligations for cash distribution service agreements and facilities access agreements, including requirements for written agreements, good-faith negotiation, dispute resolution terms and approved standard terms. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission would be able to approve or determine standard terms, set service-level standards, appoint arbitrators in specified disputes and make record-keeping rules. Furthermore, the framework would give the Reserve Bank of Australia early-warning, supervisory and resolution powers over designated cash distribution entities to prevent or manage disruptions to services critical to the availability of cash in Australia, including mandatory notifications and information requests, cash distribution and resolvability standards, directions, statutory management, compulsory transfers, moratoria and stays, and access to up to AUD 400 million in Commonwealth funding per crisis event.

The Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a consultation on proposed changes to licensing rules for derivatives business operators, derivatives exchanges and derivatives clearing houses to support digital assets as an underlying reference asset under the Derivatives Act. The proposals would allow digital asset business operators to apply for derivatives licences without establishing a new company, create digital asset specific derivatives licence categories, and strengthen supervisory requirements for derivatives market infrastructure. The proposed framework includes a new Sor-3 licence for derivatives agency, dealing, advisory and fund management services limited to digital asset referenced derivatives, plus standalone licences for digital asset derivatives advisory and fund management. Digital asset custodians would be excluded from all derivatives licence categories, reflecting segregation of duty considerations. Proposed fees include a THB 30,000 application fee and THB 500,000 licence fee for the Sor-3 licence, with exemptions for existing digital asset exchanges, brokers and dealers. For derivatives exchanges and clearing houses, the SEC proposes tighter eligibility and operating requirements, including additional conditions for applicants already conducting other businesses such as showing that those businesses are related to or supportive of the derivatives exchange or clearing house business, do not create undue asset-risk or unmanaged conflicts of interest, and fulfill certain other prudential requirements. Finally, the consultation also proposes requiring derivatives exchanges and clearing houses to prepare and disclose financial statements under Thai Financial Reporting Standards for Publicly Accountable Entities.

The European Central Bank has signed agreements with European Card Payment Cooperation, nexo standards and the Berlin Group to reuse existing open technical standards for processing digital euro online payments. The move is intended to lower market adoption costs, support early coordination among payment service providers and standardisation bodies, and create a more uniform digital euro acceptance experience across the euro area. The agreements cover CPACE standards for contactless tap-to-pay payments using near-field communication, nexo standards specifications connecting merchant systems with payment service providers and acquirers, and Berlin Group standards supporting alias-based payments, balance checks and reconciliation across mobile devices and merchant-app initiated transactions. The ECB expects the approach to help European payment solutions expand beyond national markets and diversify use cases without relying as heavily on proprietary standards owned by international card schemes and global digital wallets. The benefits are expected to materialise ahead of digital euro issuance once EU co-legislators adopt the digital euro Regulation, which would provide market actors with greater certainty for future payments investment. Additional standards may be added in the future, subject to approval by the ECB’s Governing Council.

The European Banking Authority has published an Opinion on the European Commission’s proposed amendments to final draft Regulatory Technical Standards specifying operational risk requirements under the Capital Requirements Regulation, objecting to two substantive changes that it considers could undermine the consistency, transparency and supervisory effectiveness of operational risk capital requirements. The concerns relate to allowing institutions to combine the accounting approach and prudential boundary approach for calculating the financial component of the business indicator, and to limiting notifications to competent authorities to material changes in the scope of the prudential boundary approach. The EBA considers that combined use of the two approaches would increase complexity for institutions and supervisors, create possible inconsistencies across risk frameworks, complicate reporting and data aggregation, and create scope for regulatory arbitrage. It recommends maintaining exclusive use of either the accounting approach or the prudential boundary approach for the full balance sheet at consolidated or individual level. It also warns that institution-specific judgments on materiality for changes to the prudential boundary approach could weaken supervisory effectiveness and reduce the prudence of the framework. The EBA supports the Commission’s non-substantive amendments, including changes to notification timing for merger and acquisition-related business indicator adjustments, reducing the historical data period assessed for disposed entities or activities from at least ten to at least five financial years, clarifying the retroactive application of the loss data set, and other drafting improvements. It invites the Commission to reconsider the two substantive amendments and,

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and the European Commission Joint Research Centre have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen cooperation on evidence based research into natural catastrophe risks, with the aim of improving understanding and management of those risks and assessing their impact on the insurance sector and the wider economy. The arrangement creates a framework for future collaboration on data sharing, research coordination and knowledge transfer, focused on areas including disaster loss data, climate risk assessments, catastrophe modelling and multi hazard risk assessments. Planned activities include exchanging hazard, exposure and loss data and risk assessment practices, exploring improvements to methodologies for multi peril risk scores, and linking EIOPA’s insurance sector data with the Joint Research Centre’s Risk Data Hub and loss recording tools. It also provides for regular expert level exchanges, at least biannual progress meetings, and potential use of aggregated claims data from EIOPA’s ad hoc data collection.

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority has published revised guidelines on the systematic exchange of information within supervisory colleges for EEA insurance groups, promoting a more proportionate and practical approach to information-sharing among supervisory authorities. The revisions are part of EIOPA’s Solvency II review work and are intended to streamline exchanges, focus on relevant supervisory assessments, and ensure that only relevant quantitative templates and indicators are shared. The substantive changes include updated legal references and clearer, streamlined Technical Annexes specifying the information to be exchanged within colleges whereby Technical Annex I covers information provided by other supervisory authorities to the group supervisor, Technical Annex II covers information provided by the group supervisor to other supervisory authorities, and Technical Annex III sets out selected data and indicators for exchange, including at individual, group and, where relevant, third-country level. Guidelines 1 to 4 remain unchanged in substance and continue to address, respectively, how colleges assess the scope of information to be exchanged, information flows from other supervisory authorities to the group supervisor, information flows from the group supervisor to other supervisory authorities, and the exchange of selected data. A new Guideline 5 allows the group supervisor and other supervisory authorities to agree to exchange the group own risk and solvency assessment report, in addition to the group supervisor’s assessment of that report, where it is relevant to national supervisory tasks and the college’s needs. EIOPA states that the revisions do not introduce new data requirements or additional reporting obligations for undertakings

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority has submitted two draft technical standards to the European Commission to support implementation of the Insurance Recovery and Resolution Directive. The first standard specifies how resolution colleges for insurance groups should be established and operate. The second sets procedures and minimum standard forms and templates for insurers to provide information needed by resolution authorities to prepare resolution plans. The draft Regulatory Technical Standards set out how resolution colleges should be established and operate for cross-border insurance groups. They cover cooperation on group resolution plans, resolvability assessments, measures to address substantive impediments to resolvability, cross-border group resolution governance, the participation of members and observers, written arrangements, information exchange and joint decision-making. The draft Implementing Technical Standards set the reporting procedures and templates for resolution planning. In-scope insurance and reinsurance undertakings, or the ultimate parent undertaking for a group, must submit resolution-planning information at least every two years. The deadline is 18 weeks after financial year-end for individual undertakings and 24 weeks for groups. For first submissions relating to a financial year-end between 30 January 2027 and 31 December 2027, the deadlines are extended to 20 weeks for individual undertakings and 26 weeks for groups. The templates are intended to align where possible with Solvency II reporting, avoid duplicating information already held by supervisory authorities, and exclude regular granular liabilities reporting while allowing resolution authorities to request additional information where needed. If adopted, the draft regulations are expected to apply from 30 January 2027.

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group submitted its 2026 Sustainability Reporting Work Programme to the European Commission, setting out the sustainability reporting standard-setting and implementation priorities it plans to pursue under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive framework. The programme focuses on developing standards for non-EU groups, continuing the SME reporting ecosystem, designing future implementation support for European Sustainability Reporting Standards and the voluntary standard, strengthening interoperability with international standards, and advancing digital reporting tools. The main standard-setting deliverable is technical advice on sustainability reporting standards for non-EU undertakings within the scope of Article 40a of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, with delivery to the European Commission expected by the end of January 2027. A public consultation on the exposure draft is planned to start in mid-July 2026 for 100 days, with outreach targeted at stakeholders in jurisdictions where affected groups are headquartered. The draft is expected to reflect the simplified European Sustainability Reporting Standards to be issued by delegated act in June 2026 and the exclusions required under Article 40a. The programme also continues EFRAG’s SME Ecosystem work, including the SME Forum, mapping of digital platforms and tools, supporting guides for the voluntary standard, educational materials, market practice research, and a second survey on use of the voluntary standard and its digital template. Implementation support will initially focus on process design and an agenda consultation on future guidance needs, with possible materials for ESRS and the voluntary standard in the second half of 2026, including work on Anticipated Financial Effects expected by the end of 2026. Digital priorities include an XLS list of ESRS requirements, an updated ESRS XBRL taxonomy to support machine-readability and integration into the European Single Electronic Format by December 2026, and further development of the ESRS Knowledge Hub.

The European Central Bank published a blog explaining how a quantile regression forest machine learning model supports real-time assessment of risks around euro area inflation forecasts. The model complements the Eurosystem’s existing toolkit by producing inflation forecasts and assessing whether inflation is more likely to come in above or below the baseline outlook, which has become more complex in a more uncertain economic environment. The model draws on 60 variables covering inflation expectations, cost pressures, real economic activity and financial conditions, including indicators such as wage developments and selling price expectations. It has been part of the analytical toolkit for monetary policy preparation since the end of 2022 and has already been used to support short-term inflation forecasting and the assessment of risks around the baseline. Unlike traditional models that often use a narrower set of indicators and more restrictive assumptions, the machine learning approach can handle larger datasets and capture non-linear relationships. In 2025, wages and selling price expectations were key drivers of revisions to core inflation projections. The model identified upside risks for the second and fourth quarters of 2025 that later materialised, with inflation 20 basis points above the ECB/Eurosystem projections. Its forecasts were also updated several times during each quarter, allowing the assessed range of outcomes to narrow as new information became available.

Switzerland’s Federal Council adopted a dispatch to revise the Banking Act so that systemically important banks must fully back the carrying value of their foreign subsidiary participations with Common Equity Tier 1 capital at the Swiss parent bank. The measure is intended to close a gap in the too-big-to-fail framework identified in the Credit Suisse case and to prevent valuation losses on foreign subsidiaries from immediately reducing parent-bank capital ratios. It also amended the Capital Adequacy Ordinance, with the ordinance changes due to enter into force on 1 January 2027. The Banking Act proposal would replace the current approach, under which around half of foreign participations can be financed with debt, and would allow a seven-year transition period if parliamentary deliberations are not delayed. The Federal Council rejected alternatives such as a general increase in capital requirements, including a 15% leverage ratio, structural separation of US business, or only partial CET1 backing. The ordinance package was narrowed after consultation: deferred tax assets will not be subject to full CET1 backing for the time being, software will instead be subject to a maximum three-year amortisation period in line with EU rules, and proposed adjustments to Additional Tier 1 instruments will not proceed for now. New liquidity-shortage information requirements will be limited to systemically important banks. Parliament is expected to debate the Banking Act proposal from summer 2026, while the ordinance amendments do not require parliamentary approval. The measures mostly affect systemically important banks, with only a few larger non-systemically important banks affected by stricter requirements for balance sheet items that are difficult to value. UBS is currently the only bank significantly affected, with the authorities estimating that the package would strengthen the parent bank’s CET1 capital by approximately USD 20 billion based on the status quo, while the actual CET1 shortfall would have been around USD 9 billion if the rules had applied from 1 January 2026. FINMA welcomed the bill and called for the Federal Council’s broader Banking Act parameters to be implemented in full, including an accountability regime, powers to impose fines, more active public communication on concluded proceedings, and earlier intervention powers.

UK HM Treasury has published its response to the consultation on reforms to the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, alongside Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority policy statements implementing the first phase of rule changes. The package is intended to reduce regulatory burden while retaining individual accountability, including by removing the Certification Regime and prescriptive requirements for Statements of Responsibilities and Conduct Rules from primary legislation, enabling a notification-based route for some senior manager appointments, and shortening the proposed statutory deadline for senior manager applications from three months to two months. HM Treasury intends to legislate to remove the annual recertification requirement from the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, allow regulators to reduce the number of senior management functions requiring pre-approval, repeal detailed statutory requirements on Statements of Responsibilities, and remove legislative requirements for firms to notify Conduct Rule breaches and conduct mandatory training while preserving regulators’ rulemaking powers. The FCA and PRA Phase 1 changes include more flexible use of the 12-week rule by allowing firms to submit a Senior Management Function application within 12 weeks when covering a temporary or reasonably unforeseen senior manager vacancy, a 30% increase in certain thresholds for becoming subject to enhanced SM&CR requirements, a reduction of around 15% in overlapping certification roles, longer validity for criminal record checks, more time to update senior manager responsibilities and Directory information, and clarified expectations on regulatory references, certification and senior management functions. Most FCA and PRA rule changes take effect on 24 April 2026, with certain FCA reporting, threshold and certification changes taking effect on 10 July 2026 and some conduct-related guidance taking effect on 1 September 2026. HM Treasury intends to introduce the legislative reforms as soon as parliamentary time allows. Subject to legislation, the FCA and PRA plan to consult on wider Phase 2 reforms later in 2026, including further changes to senior manager pre-approval, Statements of Responsibilities and a replacement approach following removal of the Certification Regime from FSMA.

UK HM Treasury published draft amendments to the UK cryptoasset regulatory regime to reduce potential overlap between cryptoasset permissions and future payments regulation. The main proposal would exclude certain transactions involving UK-issued qualifying stablecoins from the cryptoasset activities of dealing as principal, dealing as agent and arranging deals, before wider payments services reforms are completed. The underlying cryptoasset regime was made in February 2026 and is due to come into force in October 2027, when firms carrying on new regulated cryptoasset activities will need to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. The carve-out would apply to transfers of relevant qualifying stablecoin and exchanges of that stablecoin for money, another asset or another relevant qualifying stablecoin. For these purposes, relevant qualifying stablecoin means a qualifying stablecoin issued under the new regulated activity of issuing qualifying stablecoin by a person with Part 4A permission for that activity. The carve-out would not apply to transfers or disposals subject to a right or obligation to reacquire the same or equivalent stablecoin, or to exchanges of relevant qualifying stablecoin for a qualifying cryptoasset other than another relevant qualifying stablecoin. Lending and borrowing involving UK-issued qualifying stablecoin would remain within the cryptoasset dealing perimeter. Firms that safeguard UK-issued qualifying stablecoin for others would still need cryptoasset safeguarding permissions, and the temporary settlement exclusion would be clarified so that it applies only where the activity is ancillary to dealing or arranging. The draft amendments would also align the financial promotions perimeter with the revised crypto perimeter, add issuing qualifying stablecoin as a controlled activity and qualifying stablecoin as a controlled investment, bring forward exclusions for stablecoin backing assets from collective investment scheme and alternative investment fund treatment, create a proprietary trading exclusion for activity not carried on as a client service, and extend the central securities depository safeguarding exemption to specified investment cryptoassets. HM Treasury will engage industry on the draft provisions and consult separately on payments services reforms covering payment services using UK-issued qualifying stablecoin.

The Central Bank of Belize has executed a contract with the external vendor Montran Corporation to design and implement Belize’s Instant Payment System (IPS), supported by the World Bank, as part of a modernization of the country’s domestic payments infrastructure. Once operational, the IPS is intended to enable faster, more inclusive and more efficient payments through real-time settlement. The system is positioned as a flagship initiative under the Central Bank’s payments reform agenda, which began with the Automated Payments and Securities Settlement System (APSSS) in 2016. Planned user features include alias identifiers for payments using phone numbers or email addresses, QR codes to support fast and low-cost merchant transactions, and request-to-pay functionality for billing and collections. The project now moves into an 18-month implementation phase covering system development, testing and engagement with financial institutions and other stakeholders, alongside a public education campaign to support awareness and adoption.

The Bank of the Republic of Burundi has officially launched “BurundiPay”, a new instant payment system designed to enable real-time payments and fund transfers 24/7 from users’ bank accounts and mobile wallets. Developed with support from the Project to Support the Foundations of the Digital Economy (PAFEN), the platform is built on full interoperability between commercial banks, microfinance institutions and payment institutions, allowing transactions across different parts of the financial system. The central bank positioned BurundiPay as part of its payments-modernisation reforms, complementing existing infrastructure including the automated clearing house (ACH), the real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system and the national payment switch, with an objective of supporting financial inclusion and reducing cash usage. In launching the system, the Governor called on financial institutions to accelerate their integration with BurundiPay and encouraged the public to adopt the new payment method. The central bank also noted that Burundi becomes the 22nd African country to adopt an instant payments system.

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has announced it will become the world’s first AI-Native financial centre, embedding artificial intelligence into its legal and regulatory frameworks, business environment, talent development, ecosystem infrastructure and physical urban fabric. DIFC said the initiative builds on its five-year AI strategy, launched in 2023, under which it established data governance policies, incorporated AI as Regulation 10 under the DIFC Data Protection Law, and began using AI to support client compliance and relationship management. The programme foresees the establishment of ethics and governance frameworks covering AI agents and robotics, firm access to advanced AI tools, export of AI governance software and trained talent to the Global South, and the launch of a “full-stack” AI Campus combining regulation, training, compute and physical AI. DIFC estimates the programme will generate USD 3.5bn (AED 12.9bn) in economic benefits and create 25,000 jobs, and said that by 2030 parts of the district will feature intelligent buildings, autonomous mobility, service robotics, digital twins and smart utilities supported initially by thousands of sensors.

The Angola Financial Intelligence Unit has published 2025 national and sectoral risk assessment materials covering money laundering, terrorist financing, and the misuse of legal persons and legal arrangements. Angola’s overall money laundering risk was assessed as medium-high, driven by a medium-high threat level and medium national vulnerability, while its overall terrorist financing risk was assessed as medium across domestic, outbound, inbound and transit risk categories. The money laundering assessment identifies corruption and embezzlement, fuel smuggling, tax fraud, illicit drug trafficking, trafficking in strategic minerals and environmental crimes among the most critical predicate-crime threats. The highest-priority sectors for money laundering mitigation are real estate, oil, banking, precious metals and stones, registry and notarial services, gaming, lawyers, NGOs, accountants, non-bank financial institutions, capital markets and insurance. For terrorist financing, the assessment identifies relevant external and transnational threats linked to foreign terrorist organisations and international financing networks, with priority mitigation areas including non-profit organisations and NGOs, remittance services, banking, precious metals and stones, real estate, accountants, gaming, lawyers, securities, insurance and pension funds. The legal persons and legal arrangements assessment found a medium overall inherent ML/TF risk for the jurisdiction but an extremely high residual risk for both money laundering and terrorist financing after accounting for weak mitigation efforts.

The Ontario Securities Commission, Québec's Autorité des marchés financiers and France's Autorité des marchés financiers have entered into an agreement to support initial cross-listings of securities on an exchange in Canada and France by prospectus. The arrangement creates a new collaborative procedure intended to facilitate regulator-to-regulator dialogue and information sharing during the prospectus review process. The agreement applies to Canadian and French companies seeking to cross-list in the other jurisdiction by way of a prospectus and requires compliance with each country’s regulatory requirements as well as applicable exchange requirements. It does not provide regulatory relief, but is intended to provide issuers with increased support and assistance from the three regulators throughout the prospectus review process.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking to stop New York from applying state gambling and wagering laws to CFTC-registered contract markets that list event contracts. The complaint seeks a declaratory judgment that federal law gives the CFTC exclusive authority over event contracts traded on federally regulated exchanges and a permanent injunction preventing New York from enforcing preempted state laws against CFTC registrants. The action follows a New York State Gaming Commission cease-and-desist letter to Kalshi in October 2025 and New York civil enforcement actions filed against Coinbase Financial Markets and Gemini Titan on April 21, 2026. New York alleges that those firms are engaged in illegal and unlicensed gambling and seeks injunctions, restitution, penalties and damages. The CFTC argues that event contracts, including sports-related and political event contracts listed on CFTC-regulated designated contract markets, are swaps covered by the Commodity Exchange Act and that state regulation would interfere with the CFTC’s exclusive jurisdiction. The complaint states that at least eight CFTC-regulated designated contract markets have collectively self-certified more than 3,000 event contracts under CFTC Rule 40.2. The lawsuit is part of the CFTC’s broader effort to affirm federal jurisdiction over prediction markets and follows similar CFTC lawsuits in Arizona, Connecticut and Illinois.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking to stop New York from applying state gambling and wagering laws to CFTC-registered contract markets that list event contracts. The complaint seeks a declaratory judgment that federal law gives the CFTC exclusive authority over event contracts traded on federally regulated exchanges and a permanent injunction preventing New York from enforcing preempted state laws against CFTC registrants. The action follows a New York State Gaming Commission cease-and-desist letter to Kalshi in October 2025 and New York civil enforcement actions filed against Coinbase Financial Markets and Gemini Titan on April 21, 2026. New York alleges that those firms are engaged in illegal and unlicensed gambling and seeks injunctions, restitution, penalties and damages. The CFTC argues that event contracts, including sports-related and political event contracts listed on CFTC-regulated designated contract markets, are swaps covered by the Commodity Exchange Act and that state regulation would interfere with the CFTC’s exclusive jurisdiction. The complaint states that at least eight CFTC-regulated designated contract markets have collectively self-certified more than 3,000 event contracts under CFTC Rule 40.2. The lawsuit is part of the CFTC’s broader effort to affirm federal jurisdiction over prediction markets and follows similar CFTC lawsuits in Arizona, Connecticut and Illinois.

The Canadian Securities Administrators adopted final amendments lowering the maximum fee charged by marketplaces for executing orders in U.S. inter-listed securities priced at CAD 1.00 or more. The change sets the active trading fee cap for those securities at CAD 0.0017 per share, meaning all equities priced at CAD 1.00 or more will be subject to the same active trading fee cap. The final cap is higher than the CAD 0.0010 per share initially proposed, after commenters expressed mixed views on the appropriate level and some warned that a lower cap could limit Canadian marketplaces’ ability to compete for order flow through rebates. The CSA said the CAD 0.0017 cap better approximates the Canadian dollar equivalent of the U.S. cap of USD 0.0010, reflects current foreign exchange rates, gives marketplaces greater flexibility, and aligns with the cap for non-U.S. inter-listed securities. The amendments are expected to come into force on November 2, 2026, subject to required ministerial approvals and aligned with the revised U.S. implementation date. In a related initiative, the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization published amendments to align Canadian trading increments for certain U.S. inter-listed securities with the equivalent minimum pricing increments in the United States, also effective November 2, 2026.

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada published a Special Bulletin on money laundering associated with extortion and targeted violence against Canada’s South Asian diaspora, particularly in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario. The bulletin is intended to help reporting entities detect extortion-linked financial activity and submit suspicious transaction reports and listed person or entity property reports. The bulletin identifies extortion activity involving demands that can range from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, often followed by smaller negotiated payments through email money transfers, cheques, cryptocurrency, cash deliveries, or recurring payment plans. FINTRAC analysis points to substantial cash placement through bank deposits and automated teller machine transactions, layering through email money transfers, and the use of nominees and money mules to obscure the source and destination of funds. Suspicious reporting suggests abuse across banks, credit unions, money services businesses including virtual currency businesses, and casinos, with activity potentially linked to money laundering and terrorist activity financing. The bulletin identifies extortion activity involving demands that can range from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, often followed by smaller negotiated payments through email money transfers, cheques, cryptocurrency, cash deliveries, or recurring payment plans. FINTRAC analysis points to substantial cash placement through bank deposits and automated teller machine transactions, layering through email money transfers, and the use of nominees and money mules to obscure the source and destination of funds. Suspicious reporting suggests abuse across banks, credit unions, money services businesses including virtual currency businesses, and casinos, with activity potentially linked to money laundering and terrorist activity financing. Reporting entities are asked to assess indicators in combination with customer knowledge and transaction context, including adverse media related to extortion, arson, shootings or murder, aliases or stage names, unexplained structured cash deposits, unusually high volumes of email money transfers, transactions involving India, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and possibly Portugal or Kenya, and distressed customers seeking large withdrawals or wire transfers inconsistent with prior activity.