Financial Regulatory Deadlines to Watch in October 2026

Each month, we leverage data from our Horizon Scanning Regulatory Deadlines Calendar to bring you a glimpse of the key response deadlines and legislation effective dates coming up, so you can plan and take action around some of the most important regulatory developments unfolding right now.

In October, there are 66 regulatory deadlines on the horizon — with 21 key consultation periods coming to an end and requiring a response, and 39 actionable deadlines to be aware of coming into effect.

What are the regulatory deadlines to watch in October?

Australia

On October 1, 2026, the Australian Treasury issued Compilation No. 4 of "Standard No. 1 of 2016 The Setting of Interchange Fees in the Designated Credit Card Schemes and Net Payments to Issuers". The standard prescribes the below, amongst other items, and take effect immediately:

• Objective and scope establishing rules to ensure transparent interchange fees and promote efficiency and competition within the Australian payments system for designated credit card schemes, specifically the MasterCard System and the VISA System.
• Interchange fee caps mandating that domestic interchange fees must not exceed 0.300 percent of the transaction value for Consumer Credit Card Transactions, and 0.800 percent of the transaction value for Commercial Credit Card Transactions. Effective from April 1, 2027, International Interchange Fees paid by an Acquirer are capped at 1.000 percent of the international card transaction value. Fees must be expressed as a fixed amount or a strict percentage, rather than a range of rates.
• Prohibition on net compensation prohibiting Direct Issuer Participants from receiving Net Compensation for credit card transactions or overseas merchant transactions. This means a participant's receipts (including rebates and incentives that meet the "Incentive Test" for promoting card issuance or usage) cannot exceed the payments made to the scheme administrator for Core Services during a reporting period.

India

On October 2, 2026, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a Master Direction on Note Sorting Machines (NSMs), consolidating and updating all existing guidelines, circulars, and directives on the subject into a single comprehensive document. 

The Master Direction establishes detailed parameters for note authentication and fitness sorting that NSMs operated by banks must follow. The direction specifies minimum standards across ten fitness criteria, namnely, soiling, limpness, dog-ears, tears, holes, stains, graffiti, crumples or folds, decolouration, and repair. Each criterion includes precise measurement thresholds—for example, notes with holes exceeding 8 square millimetres or tears longer than specified lengths must be sorted as unfit. The master direction takes immediate effect.

Liechtenstein

On September 22, 2026, the Liechtenstein government issued the Regulation of 22 September 2026 concerning the amendment of the Regulation on Measures Against Belarus. 

Key amendments include: 

• Direct or indirect participation in transactions relating to crypto-assets or central bank digital currencies, or the assistance in the development of such digital assets, is prohibited. 
• It is prohibited to conduct direct or indirect transactions with legal persons, organisations or institutions established in Belarus that provide crypto services or with platforms established there that enable the exchange or transfer of crypto-assets. 
• It is prohibited to conduct business directly or indirectly with persons, companies or organisations listed in Annex 28 of the Regulation on Measures Against Belarus. 
• The Digital Belarusian Ruble is a digital asset subject to transaction bans. 

This regulation enters into force on September 22, 2026, except for Article 25b(1)(i), which shall enter into force on October 20, 2026.

UK

On June 30, 2026, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published Policy Statement PS26/13, setting out final rules and guidance on how key cross-cutting FCA Handbook obligations will apply to regulated cryptoasset activities in the UK. 

The policy statement confirms that most firms carrying on regulated cryptoasset activities will be subject to requirements including the Consumer Duty, Conduct of Business Standards (COBS), Dispute Resolution, Financial Ombudsman Service access, Senior Management Arrangements Systems and Controls (SYSC), the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR), Environmental Social and Governance (ESG), the Client Asset Sourcebook (CASS), and regulatory reporting. The final rules and guidance come into force on October 25, 2027.

South Africa

On September 4, 2026, South Africa's Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) issued the final version of Directive 12 under Section 43A of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 2001 (Act 38 of 2001). 

The directive establishes mandatory annual requirements for specified accountable institutions to submit copies of the documentation describing their risk management and compliance programmes (RMCPs) to the FIC. The FIC states that the requirement is intended to support its monitoring of accountable institutions' compliance with the FIC Act.

The directive applies to accountable institutions listed under items 1, 2, 3, 9, 11, 14, 20, 21 and 22 of Schedule 1 to the FIC Act, including banks, financial services providers and crypto-asset service providers. Certain banks, falling under item 11, are excluded. Specified accountable institutions must submit their RMCPs through the FIC's registration and reporting platform according to the following annual deadlines:

• Items 1, 2, 9 and 11 must submit by October 9, 2026 and October 9 annually thereafter, subject to the item 11 exclusions.
• Items 3, 14, 20, 21 and 22 must submit by October 31, 2026 and October 31 annually thereafter.

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Vixio’s Horizon Scanning tool shows you real-time updates on regulatory deadlines and trends across 140+ global jurisdictions, including all US states, at the click of a button. Its Regulatory Deadlines Calendar feature sets out effective dates for published legislation, closing dates for consultation periods on proposed regulatory developments, and deadlines for specific requests for information by regulatory authorities. 

Want to see them all? Book a demo with a member of our team, who can show you how the Regulatory Deadlines Calendar works, and why it forms a critical part of your compliance risk process.