Global Regulator & Central Bank News Roundup

Malaysia’s Joint Committee on Climate Change (JC3) concluded its 17th meeting with a series of implementation-focused measures across sustainability reporting, taxonomy alignment, climate data and transition finance. The committee issued National Sustainability Reporting Framework (NSRF) guidance for banks and insurance and takaful operators, agreed to adopt the ASEAN Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance as the basis for the Malaysia Taxonomy, and will explore a centralised climate- and nature-related data platform. A pilot will precede full adoption of the Malaysia Taxonomy for reporting in 2028. Separately, 22 projects seeking MYR 1.73 billion under the second Climate Finance Innovation Lab cohort will enter an accelerator programme to refine business models, assess impact and facilitate funding. The new NSRF guidance is intended to address practical challenges financial institutions face in translating sustainability reporting requirements into disclosures. Separate documents for the banking and insurance and takaful sectors illustrate how institutions can approach areas including the identification and assessment of sustainability-related risks and opportunities, reporting boundaries, materiality, governance, strategy, and metrics and targets. Specifically, the documents use illustrative sustainability reports for fictional institutions to demonstrate how the requirements may be applied in practice. The guidance was developed with reference to IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 and relevant Malaysian regulatory expectations, including Bank Negara Malaysia’s Climate Risk Management and Scenario Analysis Policy Document and, where applicable, Bursa Malaysia’s Main Market Listing Requirements. Its development drew on industry benchmarking, surveys, focus group discussions involving 230 participants and feedback from more than 45 parties.

South Korea's Cabinet has approved amendments to the enforcement decree of the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information that tighten the entry screening framework for virtual asset service providers and strengthen anti-money laundering controls on virtual asset transfers. The changes also clarify customer due diligence requirements. In parallel, the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit and the Financial Supervisory Service published a revised reporting manual to show firms how to prepare filings and comply with the stronger regime ahead of the new registration rules taking effect on Aug. 20. Screening will now cover a wider set of major shareholders, including shareholders that appoint a majority of directors and, where the largest shareholder is a company, that company's largest shareholder and representative. Registration may be refused if a provider, its executives or major shareholders fail defined tests on financial soundness, social credibility, criminal history or operational readiness. The financial soundness test sets a debt ratio ceiling of 200%. Existing providers will receive a one-year grace period for the debt ratio test and some organization, information technology and internal control requirements. For transfers, travel rule information-sharing will apply to all transfers between VASPs subject to the reporting regime instead of only those above KRW 1 million, and receiving VASPs must seek missing information or refuse the transaction. Transfers involving foreign VASPs and personal wallets will be limited on a risk basis, with low-risk foreign exchanges allowed, other foreign exchanges and personal wallets restricted to same-person transfers, high-risk cases prohibited, and transactions of KRW 10 million or more subject to an internal suspicious transaction management framework. The decree also clarifies that firms must properly verify customer information and assess whether enhanced due diligence is required based on customer, transaction, product and service risk. The registration provisions take effect on Aug. 20, while the remaining decree changes apply six months after promulgation. The revised manual sets out the documentation firms must provide on ownership chains, financial metrics and compliance arrangements, changes reporting for major shareholders and compliance systems from a filing within 14 days after the change to a filing 30 days before the change, and clarifies when non-custodial wallet models fall outside the reporting perimeter.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has published an information paper setting out supervisory observations on four culture capabilities associated with more effective remediation of serious risk events and a lower likelihood of recurrence. The capabilities cover Board and senior management leadership and oversight, evidence-based culture root cause analysis, targeted culture interventions, and culture monitoring and independent validation. The paper emphasises that recurring control failures and misconduct may reflect underlying behavioural patterns and culture drivers, meaning sustainable remediation often requires more than changes to controls, policies and procedures. Financial institutions are encouraged to establish clear leadership ownership, adequate resources, independent challenge and effective reporting and escalation arrangements. Culture root cause analyses should use quantitative and qualitative evidence to connect organisational, leadership and social drivers with behavioural patterns and risk outcomes. Interventions should address the identified drivers collectively and reinforce clearly defined desired behaviours, while monitoring should use tailored leading and lagging indicators to assess actual behavioural change rather than merely track implementation. Independent validation should test both the design adequacy and operating effectiveness of the culture change programme. The capabilities are intended to operate iteratively, with monitoring and validation informing adjustments to leadership direction, root cause analysis and interventions. They may also be applied pre-emptively to identify emerging behavioural risks and cultural hotspots before serious risk events occur.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has issued a consultation paper proposing to relax Know Your Client requirements for individual Persons Resident Outside India, covering Non-Resident Indians, Overseas Citizens of India and foreign nationals. The proposals are designed to simplify onboarding in the securities market by enabling more of the process to be completed digitally and by reducing duplication across intermediaries. A central change would remove the requirement for physical presence in India for individual Persons Resident Outside India from Financial Action Task Force-compliant countries when completing KYC through digital mode. The package would also allow intermediaries to rely on KYC completed by entities regulated by other financial sector regulators and would make KYC records portable across securities market intermediaries. Other proposed changes include mandatory collection of clients' email addresses, expansion of the list of authorized officials who can certify documents to include officials of overseas banks that have relationships with Indian banks, and safeguards for Video In Person Verification, including spoofed IP prevention, concurrent audit and cybersecurity compliance.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has opened consultation on a prudential levy that would shift the cost of its prudential regulation and supervision to deposit takers, insurers and financial market infrastructures. The government has agreed in principle to introduce the levy, and the preferred design would recover all legally eligible prudential costs, estimated at an average of NZD 70 million a year excluding goods and services tax and collection costs. The levy is proposed to take effect around August 2027 and would first apply to the 2027-28 financial year. Under the proposed sector allocation, deposit takers would pay 54%, insurers 39% and financial market infrastructures 7%, based mainly on frontline supervisory effort. For deposit takers and insurers, the Reserve Bank prefers hybrid models combining a fixed charge with a size-based rate, using total assets for deposit takers and gross New Zealand insurance revenue for insurers. It prefers an equal flat charge across financial market infrastructure operators and proposes temporary waivers for non-bank deposit takers, overseas reinsurers and captive insurers during the transition. Levy amounts would be calculated annually in arrears using actual recoverable costs, market membership and relevant industry data, while the methodology would be reviewed at least every five years with scope for out-of-cycle reviews.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced that the Supreme Court of New South Wales ordered Fiducian Investment Management Services Limited to pay an AUD 7.3 million penalty for failing to act with care and diligence as responsible entity of the Diversified Social Aspirations Fund and making statements liable to mislead the public. The court found that Fiducian lacked reasonable grounds for claims about the fund’s ethical or socially responsible investment objectives and its monitoring of investments against those objectives. Between October 2019 and May 2024, the fund invested through underlying funds that held companies deriving revenue from fossil fuels, despite disclosures that it would seek positive social and environmental outcomes and avoid specified harmful activities. Fiducian failed to adequately monitor the underlying investments, review the underlying funds’ strategies, change the investments or align the fund’s stated objectives with its actual holdings, even though investor concerns had been raised from at least 2019. The outcome is ASIC’s fourth greenwashing civil penalty case and the first against a managed fund operator for governance, compliance and oversight failures relating to ESG claims.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has published its 2026 survey on companies’ use of cash, covering 8,205 companies across all 21 euro area countries. It finds that cash remains the most widely accepted payment method at physical points of sale, with acceptance rising to 92% from 90% in 2024. Card acceptance was broadly stable at 88%, while mobile payment acceptance nearly doubled from 36% to 68%, indicating that wider digital payment availability is expanding alongside, rather than displacing, cash acceptance. Cash remains particularly prevalent in retail, restaurants and hotels, where 93% of companies accept it, compared with 84% in arts, entertainment and recreation. Cash acceptance also appears likely to remain durable. Of companies that currently accept cash, 92% expect to continue doing so over the next five years. Those that do not accept it most often cite limited customer use, at 36%, difficulty depositing or withdrawing cash, at 35%, and security risks, at 29%. Companies generally view cash more favorably than digital payments for privacy and reliability, although mistakes when giving change, safety and internal fraud remain the main operational concerns. Consumer preference is the leading factor in decisions on which payment methods to accept, followed by security and ease of handling. The survey nevertheless points to a gradual shift in payment infrastructure. One quarter of companies have introduced measures to encourage digital payments, including adding cashless tills, reducing the number of cash-accepting tills or promoting cashless options. Self-checkout terminals are used by 13% of companies, but 48% of those businesses accept no cash at any such terminal. The European Central Bank notes that this form of automation could make cash less convenient in practice even where companies continue to report accepting it.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) will launch its new weekly commodity derivatives position reporting framework on Sept. 3, 2026, following an earlier postponement. From that date, market participants must submit reports under the updated requirements, technical specifications and validation rules in XML schema version 2.0. The framework applies to market operators and investment firms operating trading venues for commodity derivatives or derivatives on emission allowances. Submissions will use a standardized ISO 20022 XML format through HUBEX, with ESMA validating the data and providing feedback before publishing accepted reports. Updated reporting instructions and the XML schema are accessible under the link.

Switzerland's Federal Council launched a consultation on amendments to the Banking Act and Liquidity Ordinance that would complete its post-Credit Suisse package of reforms to the too-big-to-fail framework. The proposals would strengthen bank governance and remuneration rules, expand the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority's supervisory and enforcement powers, tighten crisis preparations for systemically important banks and broaden access to Swiss National Bank liquidity. The consultation runs until 19 November 2026. A senior managers regime would apply to more complex banks with 250 or more employees, requiring them to document responsibility for key decisions. All banks would be subject to general remuneration principles addressing risk mitigation and moral hazard, while the most senior or highly paid managers at systemically important banks would also face retention periods for variable remuneration and clawbacks. FINMA would gain powers to intervene earlier, fine non-compliant institutions, impose periodic penalty payments for delayed implementation of ordered measures and generally disclose completed proceedings. Systemically important banks would face more precise recovery and resolution requirements. On liquidity, the proposals would facilitate the transfer to the SNB of collateral needed to obtain liquidity support and introduce quantitative minimum requirements for collateral preparations by systemically important banks. Category 3 banks could determine the volume of assets to be prepared using risk indicators in the Liquidity Ordinance, while categories 4 and 5 would not be affected. Both the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) and the Swiss National Bank (SNB) issued statements endorsing the Federal Council’s consultation drafts. FINMA called for the measures to be implemented as a comprehensive package, with particular emphasis on preventive supervisory instruments designed to reduce the likelihood of bank crises and resolution cases. The SNB stressed that banks must be able to transfer assets as collateral to access liquidity support and urged as many banks as possible to prepare for participation in the Extended Liquidity Facility, which will be available from the beginning of 2027.

Turkey's Capital Markets Board has adopted two guides that set the rules for issuing green, sustainable, social and sustainability-linked capital market instruments in Turkey, including limited foreign issuances. The package expands the labelled market by allowing social-themed instruments for eligible social projects, creates a dedicated regime for sustainability-linked instruments whose coupon or other financial or structural features may change depending on whether pre-set sustainability targets are achieved, and reduces by 50% the Board fees payable under capital markets rules for issuances under the guides. The green, sustainable and social guide is a use-of-proceeds framework that requires proceeds to be used exclusively for eligible green and and/or social projects, backed by a framework document, a second-party opinion, separate issuance ceilings, annual use-of-proceeds reporting, final verification of the use of proceeds and impact reporting after full allocation. The sustainability-linked guide applies across debt, lease certificate, securitised, project-backed and real estate instruments and requires minimum framework content across five core components covering key performance indicators, sustainability performance targets, instrument features, reporting and verification. Across both guides, external review is limited to second-party opinions and verification, application, disclosure and reporting obligations have been clarified with specified timelines, the green, sustainable and social guide applies to applications filed after publication, and certain sustainability-linked issuances under Board-approved ceilings that predate publication are excluded from the new regime.

A new Bank of England (BoE) staff working paper finds that cloud outsourcing has helped reduce technological barriers to competition in the UK deposit market, although the benefits differ by institution size. Using proprietary data on 3,443 material outsourcing contracts across 90 UK domestic banks, the paper finds that spending on Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) is associated with lower operating costs and higher deposit volumes, with these reduced-form effects concentrated among larger institutions. For smaller banks and building societies, however, the main benefit appears on the demand side, with structural estimates indicating that CSP adoption makes their deposit services more attractive to customers and may help them narrow service-quality gaps with larger incumbents. The paper's counterfactual analysis reinforces this competitive effect. Holding CSP spending at 2015 levels shifts market share towards large institutions, raises average inside-market concentration by 132 points on the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) and reduces average quarter-level depositor welfare by GBP 1.13 billion, or 11.2%. The analysis also identifies an interaction with prudential regulation: a 1 percentage point increase in capital requirements is associated with about a 4.2% increase in CSP spending, particularly among large institutions. In a separate counterfactual, reducing capital requirements raises depositor welfare through lower funding costs, but the associated decline in predicted CSP investment offsets about 32% of that direct welfare gain. The findings therefore suggest that capital requirements may affect competition not only through funding costs, but also by influencing banks' incentives to invest in digital infrastructure.

De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) announced that Steven Maijoor will step down from its Executive Board and as chair of supervision on March 1, 2027. Maijoor, who joined the board in 2021 and became supervisory chair in February 2024, is responsible for banking supervision, supervisory policy and legal affairs. Maijoor will focus on governance and supervisory roles, principally as chair of the IFRS Foundation Trustees. De Nederlandsche Bank’s Supervisory Board will begin the succession process and provide a further update at a later date.

The Central Bank of Brazil has extended its fraud prevention requirements to virtual asset services, requiring financial and payment institutions and virtual asset service providers, including those in the regulatory adaptation phase, to apply a precautionary hold of up to 24 hours to certain transfers. The requirement covers transfers to foreign virtual asset service providers or self-custodied wallets where an individual transaction or the customer’s aggregate same-day transactions exceed USD 10,000. Institutions must also apply the hold below that threshold where their risk frameworks identify a need for further analysis. The rules cover stablecoins and other virtual asset services within the scope of the legislation. The hold does not constitute a permanent asset freeze. Institutions must assess factors including the risk profiles of the customer, transaction or service, counterparty and destination jurisdiction, and must notify the customer of the measure and its duration. A transfer may be released early through a documented and reasoned decision; otherwise, after 24 hours, the institution must end the hold or reject the transaction. Firms must also maintain daily records of fraud and attempted fraud involving virtual asset services, including corrective measures taken. The Central Bank may impose longer holds, lower the applicable threshold or restrict early releases where it identifies noncompliance. The requirements take effect on January 1, 2027.

The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) will require applications involving anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regulated financial institutions that mandate the vetting of a Key Person to include a Police Clearance Certificate for each relevant individual from 1 October 2026. The requirement also applies to notifications of changes to a Key Person and covers anyone subject to a fit and proper assessment under the Minimum Criteria for Licensing or Registration. The certificate must be submitted with the individual’s personal declaration form and be no more than 12 months old. A certificate is required from each country where the individual was ordinarily resident for more than six months at any time during the previous three years. Where a certificate cannot be obtained, the Authority may consider substitute documentation on a case-by-case basis. Applications or notifications submitted on or after 1 October 2026 must include the required documentation where applicable. Applications received in full before that date will not be subject to the requirement.

Further to the publication of its discussion paper on the responsible use of AI, the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) is proceeding with the consultation on a cross-sector Guidance Note clarifying how existing legal, regulatory and supervisory requirements apply when regulated entities develop, procure, deploy or use AI, including traditional machine learning, generative AI and agentic AI. The proposed guidance is principles-based, technology-neutral and proportionate. It would not create new statutory or regulatory obligations, a separate AI licensing framework or routine pre-approval requirement. Existing governance, risk management, conduct, cybersecurity, outsourcing, operational resilience, AML/ATF and recordkeeping frameworks would remain primary, with the regulated entity retaining accountability where AI is supplied by a group company, third party, cloud platform or other external provider. The framework makes the AI use case, rather than the technology label or size of the entity, the main unit for assessing materiality and risk. Governance, validation, documentation, human oversight and assurance should therefore increase with factors such as impact, autonomy, complexity, sensitive data, customer or market effects, criticality and third-party dependency. For material or higher-risk uses, the guidance envisages clear ownership, lifecycle controls, testing and monitoring for performance and drift, meaningful human challenge, explainability and auditability, alongside controls for data, cyber, operational resilience and changes in models or vendors. Generative AI warrants attention to hallucination, data leakage, prompt injection and source verification, while agentic AI may require tighter limits on permissions, tools and autonomy, stronger logging and controls that do not rely solely on prompts. The same proportional approach extends to third-party assurance, customer and market conduct, financial crime controls and supervisory evidence. Firms are not expected to obtain proprietary model information where it is unavailable, but should use sufficient assurance and compensating controls to manage risk within appetite. AI-supported communications and decisions remain subject to the same underlying conduct standards, and AI does not displace accountability for AML/ATF, sanctions or regulated decision-making. The Authority will assess AI through existing supervisory processes and may seek evidence on governance, risk assessment, testing, incidents and third-party oversight.

The Mauritius Financial Services Commission (FSC) has issued Guidance Notes establishing its regulatory policy for stablecoins under the Virtual Asset and Initial Token Offerings Services Act. The framework applies to asset-linked stablecoins issued, distributed or facilitated in or from Mauritius, while the FSC will not consider applications involving algorithmic or yield-bearing stablecoins. Issuers and service providers must hold the relevant FSC licence or registration. Bank of Mauritius approval or licensing is also required where applicable, including for stablecoins used as payment instruments and fiat-pegged stablecoins issued in or from Mauritius. Stablecoins are not legal tender in Mauritius. Issuers must maintain minimum unimpaired stated capital equal to the higher of MUR 5 million or 50% of annual operating expenses, or a percentage of reserve assets determined by the FSC. They must also hold liquid assets equal to the higher of 50% of annual operating expenses or an FSC-approved amount sufficient for orderly winding-up. Reserve assets must fully cover outstanding stablecoins, be segregated from the issuer’s assets, protected against custodian creditor claims and valued daily. Redemption must be available at par within five days, while reserve value must be disclosed daily, reserve composition weekly, independently attested monthly and audited annually. Governance, anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing, cybersecurity and operational resilience requirements also apply, including prompt reporting of material incidents. Stablecoins linked to securities, pooled investment portfolios or commodities may also be treated as securities, collective investment scheme shares or derivatives depending on their structure and the FSC’s assessment. Investors are advised to deal only with regulated entities, and stablecoin investments are not covered by statutory compensation arrangements in Mauritius.

The Financial Services Commission, Mauritius has appointed Divanandum (Prabha) Chinien as Chief Executive, effective 31 August 2026. Chinien has served as Registrar of Companies and Director of Insolvency Service since 1989 and previously held positions as State Counsel and District Magistrate. She is a barrister-at-law from the Middle Temple in the UK and a fellow of the Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of the UK.

The Bank of Central African States has put SYSTAC2, the second version of the Central African Automated Clearing System, into production for the CEMAC financial ecosystem. The regional platform handles retail payments including transfers, direct debits, checks and bank cards, replacing the previous system operated since 2007. It uses a centralized, fully online architecture designed to ISO 20022 and is intended to improve processing efficiency and operational security while supporting the integration of new payment services. SYSTAC2 comprises an automated clearing system with Central and Participant components, a dispute-management module and an instant payments module that will be brought into production at a later stage. The modernization program is expected to continue with the launch of the new SYGMA V10 real-time gross settlement system, which is being finalized and is scheduled to enter operation in the coming weeks. The Bank of Central African States is working with participating institutions to manage the transition and maintain continuity of financial services.

A new royal decree was issued, appointing Mazen bin Turki Al-Sudairi as chairman of Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority at ministerial rank, succeeding Mohammed bin Abdullah ElKuwaiz.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued an emergency order under Section 8a(9) of the Commodity Exchange Act directing KalshiEX LLC to continue operating its designated contract market in accordance with its normal practices and the Commodity Exchange Act’s Core Principles. The action followed Kalshi’s notification that a New York lawsuit seeking to prohibit it from offering event contracts and obtain at least USD 36 billion in compensatory damages threatened its ability to operate. The Commission found that New York’s enforcement action and requested temporary restraining order constituted a major market disturbance because the threat of a sudden shutdown could prevent event contract prices from accurately reflecting supply and demand. Th order reiterates that Kalshi’s event contracts are swaps traded on a DCM and therefore fall within the CFTC’s exclusive federal jurisdiction. It identifies several channels through which a shutdown could disrupt markets. Event contracts could incorporate a legal-risk premium reflecting the possibility that a state may dissolve the market, while traders could divert activity to exchanges outside New York and create inter-exchange arbitrage based on perceived legal exposure rather than the underlying events. A forced liquidation of open positions could also leave traders with unintended one-way exposures, trigger the unwinding of related positions and generate volatility across derivatives and other markets. The Commission further warned that allowing New York to prohibit event contracts from being offered “within or from” the state could effectively give one state nationwide control over a New York-headquartered DCM and establish a basis for state restrictions on other federally regulated derivatives. The order requires Kalshi to continue performing its exchange functions and is intended to assure market participants that trades executed on a CFTC-registered DCM will continue to be cleared and fulfilled. Separately to the order, the CFTC also issued new guidance after identifying recurring deficiencies in self-certifications for prediction market incentive programs. The guidance reiterates that designated contract markets must fully disclose all material economic, structural and operational terms and assess compliance with core principles covering market integrity, impartial access, conflicts of interest and competition. It also warns against structures that may encourage abusive trading or unequal access, including steep volume thresholds, guaranteed profits, unlimited or disproportionate payouts, undisclosed preferential benefits and chance-based rewards, and calls for program-specific surveillance and controls.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) introduced a two-phase process for reviewing new deposit insurance applications. De novo applicants that satisfy the relevant requirements may receive contingent authorization within 120 days of application receipt, followed by final approval within the subsequent 12 months after providing supplementary information and completing key organizational steps. The process is designed to give organizing groups greater certainty before they commit substantial resources to capital raising, staffing and infrastructure. Phase 1 covers the initial application review, information requests, background checks and management interviews, culminating in a contingent authorization letter that specifies pre-opening conditions. During Phase 2, applicants must complete outstanding governance and ownership information, capital raising, operational arrangements, contracts, locations, and risk management and compliance frameworks. The FDIC expects applications generally to be filed concurrently with the chartering authority and will coordinate with other regulators throughout the process. Following approval, a pre-opening examination is completed 30 days before the proposed opening and a deposit insurance certificate is issued.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has stopped publishing unverified consumer complaint narratives and related visualizations in its Consumer Complaint Database. It concluded that the material offers limited utility and may mislead consumers because complaints present one-sided experiences, are not verified and do not necessarily indicate legal violations. Previously published narratives will be proactively disclosed through the CFPB’s Freedom of Information Act Reading Room. The bureau will continue to collect and monitor complaints, assess the completeness, accuracy and timeliness of companies’ responses, securely share complaint information with other regulators and agencies, and disclose certain data in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.