Regulatory Roundup: Regulatory Priorities for 2026
ASIC has been comparatively explicit on this priority, making clear that it doesn’t just false reporting but also the failure to lodge required reports. However, other regulators do indicate its importance. The SEC 2026 exam priorities notes “areas of review will include the timeliness of financial notifications and other required filings” indicating that disclosure accuracy is a core part of their enforcement approach within their priorities.
At the same time, we’re seeing improved financial reporting as a market resilience theme. IOSCO plans to review its disclosure principles and standards, OTC derivatives reporting and reporting from non-bank financial institutions. Notably in India, SEBI will roll out a broad set of financial reporting reforms in 2026.
Data Safeguards and Incident Response
This one is more of a continuation of the past year, however it’s very much a common thread across most jurisdictions’ regulatory priorities. New in 2026 is the U.S. SEC’s Regulation S-P safeguards, which came into effect in December 2025 and was elevated as a priority area for 2026 examinations. They also explicitly note Regulation S-ID for 2026 and that “the Division will focus on firms’ development and implementation of a written Identity Theft Prevention Program (Program) that is designed to detect, prevent, and mitigate identity theft in connection with covered accounts.”
In Europe, DORA came into effect early 2025, with the year mostly focused on supporting adoption. However for 2026, we see regulators focusing more on full compliance, as mentioned in the ESMA work program. This view is repeated by many of the EU regulators. We saw similar rules put in place in other jurisdictions like Australia, Singapore, UK and Korea around the same time, so though not mentioned explicitly, it’s reasonable to expect a similar transition to supervision over adoption. Expect more cases like the recent one from ASIC last week.
February 2026 Capital Markets Regulatory Updates
17 February 2026: The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) published its Annual Compliance Report 2026, outlining key compliance risks for dealers including cybersecurity, crypto asset trading platforms, artificial intelligence oversight and core supervisory obligations such as KYC, KYP and suitability to help firms strengthen risk management and regulatory compliance.
17 February 2026: The CFTC defended its authority over prediction markets, filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals asserting its exclusive jurisdiction over event contracts and aiming to block state-level gambling actions from undermining federally regulated prediction markets such as those operated by registered exchanges.
15 February 2026: South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) released a 2026 policy roadmap signaling tighter crypto market supervision and crackdowns on unfair trading practices (including coordinated trading, sudden price spikes and API-based automated strategies) to protect investors and market integrity.
11 February 2026: Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) published a new digital asset trading initiatives, announcing a high‑level framework allowing licensed virtual asset trading platforms to propose virtual asset perpetual contracts for professional investors, with safeguards on product design, market manipulation and disclosure. It also permitted eligible licensed firms to offer margin and other financing for virtual‑asset dealing, subject to liquidity, order book and investor protection requirements.
11 February 2026: IOSCO announced a global campaign to raise awareness of “relationship investment scams” (including crypto-themed “pig butchering” schemes), urging investors to watch for red flags such as shifting conversations to encrypted apps and repeated solicitations to invest.
10 February 2026: Sweden’s Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen) published its 2026 supervisory priorities, focusing on combating financial crime, stability threats (including IT resilience/cyber risk) and suitability of consumer products such as loans, savings and insurance.
9 February 2026: IOSCO published its 2026 Work Program outlining priorities including technological transformation, investor protection and regulatory cooperation, with cross-border enforcement collaboration highlighted as central to delivery.
9 February 2026: The CFTC launched a multi-agency “DatingOrDefrauding?” campaign warning the public about relationship investment scams that frequently route victims into crypto payments and fake crypto investment websites.
9 February 2026: Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) with IDX and KSEI announced reforms to strengthen capital market integrity after MSCI feedback, including expanded investor classifications, enhanced shareholder disclosure and a phased increase in minimum free float from 7.5% to 15%, alongside preparations for exchange demutualization.
6 February 2026: The CFTC reissued staff guidance, updating the definition of “payment stablecoin” to specify that a national trust bank may be a permitted issuer for purposes of the no-action position on stablecoins.
5 February 2026: India’s Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) published a circular removing calendar spread margin benefits for single‑stock derivatives on expiry day to curb systemic risk.
4 February 2026: India’s SEBI issued revised order-to-trade ratio (OTR) rules that expand exemptions for equity option contracts and adjust how certain algorithmic orders are treated for OTR penalty purposes to reduce undue penalties while supporting price discovery.
4 February 2026: The U.K. government published the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026, establishing a formal FSMA perimeter for crypto asset activities and creating market abuse prohibitions (including insider dealing and market manipulation) for qualifying crypto assets.
2 February 2026: South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced that the Korea Exchange (KRX) will begin operating an AI-driven market monitoring system used to monitor and incorporate social media into their surveillance program to strengthen early detection of online-driven market manipulation and other unfair trading in real time.
1 February 2026: The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published the first edition of Enforcement Watch, outlining enforcement priorities and its approach to public communication of investigations.
1 February 2026: Australia’s ASIC published its 2026 key issues outlook identifying 10 systemic risks, including financial reporting integrity, retail exposure to private credit, consumer harm from advanced technology (including agentic AI) and operational resilience risks linked to the CHESS replacement.
1 February 2026: Indonesia’s OJK warned it will begin a crackdown on market manipulation following a major equity sell‑off, alongside plans to raise free‑float requirements and accelerate IDX demutualization.
Latest Fines and Enforcement Actions
- FINRA fined a financial advisor $750,000 USD for supervisory failures relating to off‑channel business communications.
- The U.S. SEC issued a 30‑month prison sentence for a biotech executive convicted of securities fraud and insider trading.
- The U.S. SEC dismissed and settled its civil action against an asset management firm and its CCO, while simultaneously instituting a settled administrative proceeding over allegations of “cherry picking” trade allocations that disadvantaged advisory clients.
- The U.K. FCA fined seven social media influencers for issuing unauthorized financial promotions linked to a foreign exchange trading scheme, reinforcing its crackdown on illegal “finfluencer” activity and misleading investment advertising on social media platforms.
- France’s Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) fined an investment services provider and its director for a total amount of €850,000 for failures in its market abuse detection system and breaches of authorization conditions following a supervisory inspection.
- Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) imposed RM1.07 million (approx. $275,000 USD) in penalties on four entities for AML/CFT breaches related to failures in suspicious transaction reporting.
- Hong Kong’s SFC sentenced a trader for “scaffolding” and wash trading, mandating community service and orders to pay a fine equivalent to the profit and the SFC’s investigation costs.
- Hong Kong’s SFC announced prison sentences (up to 24 months) in a securities fraud case involving social media “stock tips” and alleged ramp-and-dump schemes, citing conduct including naked short selling and deceptive representations about share ownership.
- A South Korean court sentenced a crypto company CEO to up to three years’ imprisonment for virtual‑asset price manipulation, marking the first conviction under the Virtual Asset User Protection Act.
- Indonesia’s OJK fined one company and three individuals a total of 11.05 billion rupiah (approx. $655,000 USD) for stock market manipulation schemes conducted between 2016 and 2022, including the use of nominee accounts and misleading information to artificially influence share prices.
- India’s SEBI imposed penalties totaling ₹66 lakh (approx. $73,000 USD) on 28 entities for synchronized/reversal/circular trading and non-cooperation in an investigation into ANI Integrated Services, citing artificial volumes and misleading market activity.
- Australia’s ASIC announced that an investment firm was ordered to pay $2.5 million in penalties, plus costs, following ASIC action over prolonged cybersecurity failures, setting a precedent for penalties under general AFS licensee obligations.
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