UK financial services regulation balances growth and stability. Firms must focus on financial crime, operational resilience, AI and volatility. Learn more.
Financial regulation in the UK remains at a crossroads whilst the world around it evolves at speed.
The growth agenda remains a key UK government priority. It is now over a year since the Chancellor’s 2024 Mansion House speech demanding regulation for growth, not just for risk, and the pressure for results continues to increase.
The Mansion House Leeds Reforms were published in July 2025, setting out the government’s Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy. In October 2025, the government announced a public regulators’ dashboard, including key performance indicators (KPIs) and “cementing growth as a guiding principle for regulators”.1
However, there has been relatively little substantial action so far, perhaps unsurprisingly. What might sound like a shift along a scale from caution to growth is, in practice, far more difficult, given the need to keep protections in place.
At the same time, the landscape facing regulators and firms is becoming ever more complex. New technologies are transforming operations, but can also be used by bad actors, such as financial criminals. In parallel, international competition to lower regulatory burdens risks a race to the bottom and concerns persist about potential market risks.
Our new report, What to Expect: UK Financial Services Regulation in 2026 (PDF), examines the factors at work amid the uncertainty. It also takes a sector-by-sector approach, covering insurance, wealth and asset management, pensions, capital markets and wholesale banking, retail banking and payments.
Disclaimer
This article is intended for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For advice specific to your situation, please contact our team at T & M Legis for a consultation with our Legal Experts.
