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The new geopolitical realities mean that payments firms will need to reassess their compliance priorities to protect themselves against the risks posed by Iranian and other sanctioned actors.

In 2026 and beyond, a structural shift in global economic governance around sanctions enforcement can be expected. Prior to late 2025, the focus was more on sanctions design and designations as a policy tool for most jurisdictions, given the geopolitical landscape, whereas 2026 could be the year when the focus moves to sanctions enforcement.

Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 (Digital Operational Resilience Act – DORA) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on December 27, 2022. DORA lays down uniform requirements concerning the security of network and information systems supporting the business processes of financial entities. This Mapping EU Legislation: DORA page will be updated in line with any DORA update. This includes any delegated regulation, implementing regulation or guideline issued and published at EU level, or any legislation supplementing it at member state level.

As provided in Article 28(3) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 (Digital Operational Resilience Act – DORA), as part of a financial entity's ICT risk management framework, they must maintain and update at entity level, and at sub-consolidated and consolidated levels, a register of information (ROI) in relation to all contractual arrangements on the use of ICT services provided by ICT third-party service providers. Although the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) have provided information on such reports, the procedures for submitting the registers differs between national competent authorities. This document provides a snapshot of reporting requirements across selected European countries.

As the battle over the Trump Administration’s plans for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) enters a new phase, firms operating in the US can expect fragmented oversight and inconsistent enforcement.

New legislation seeks to establish the jurisdiction as a regional hub for regulated digital finance by offering a legal environment that could attract both domestic and international players.

The UK Payments Forward Plan, published in February 2026, is intended to be a clear, coordinated regulatory roadmap for the UK’s payments sector over the next three years. This document offers an assessment of the plan’s strengths, weaknesses and likely impact on the UK payments industry over the coming months and years, as well as the full text of the plan itself.

Stablecoins have evolved into a rapidly expanding financial infrastructure, and regulators globally are striving to keep pace, stressing the need for a clear understanding of their design, risks, and yield mechanisms to inform debate and discussion.

The long-awaited publication of the UK’s Payments Forward Plan underlines the scale of the relevant authorities’ ambitions and of the challenge they have set themselves and the industry in the pursuit of growth and increased competition.

The Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) will operate under a renewed supervisory strategy for 2026 to 2028, centred around delivering effective and risk-based supervision. From 2026, supervisory priorities will place particular emphasis on the operational reliability of digital services and on preparing supervised entities for extreme economic and market phenomena. Alongside these annual priorities, the FSA will continue its ongoing monitoring of solvency, good governance and compliance with codes of business conduct. For 2026, the FSA has planned 35 new inspections and 24 thematic assessments, a slight increase from 2025, when 33 inspections and 18 thematic assessments were conducted. As financial services continue to digitise, the FSA needs deeper, more frequent on-site and thematic reviews to assess operational resilience standards. A modest increase suggests a measure of strengthening supervisory depth rather than a signal of systemic concern.