FinTech Global FS Regulatory Round-up - w/e 7 November 2025

ICYMI

• China's Revised Cybersecurity Law: Key Changes Enterprises Need to Know
• Getty fails in the UK courts in its (secondary) copyright infringement claims against Stability AI's image generating AI
• Sanctions tracker: EU's 19th sanctions package targets LNG, crypto and circumvention

UK

PVDC publishes strategy for future retail payments infrastructure

The Payments Vision Delivery Committee (PVDC) has published its strategy to guide the development of future UK retail payments infrastructure, in line with the Government's National Payments Vision. The strategy is anchored around five strategic outcomes:

• more choice of innovative and cost-effective payment options which meet consumers' and businesses' needs;
• seamless operation of payments within a diverse multi-money ecosystem;
• trust that payments are protected from fraud and financial crime more generally;
• fair, transparent and non-discriminatory access to the payments infrastructure for participant firms; and
• operational and financial resilience of the payments ecosystem. [7 Nov 2025] #Payments

FOS responds to FCA CP25/25

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has published its response to FCA Consultation Paper 25/25 (CP25/25) on the application of the FCA Handbook for regulated cryptoasset activities. The FOS' short response focuses on two key areas: access to the FOS and its role in resolving complaints; and ensuring regulatory alignment with the FCA on the regulation of cryptoasset activities. [7 Nov 2025] #Crypto #DigitalAsset

PRA speech: Innovation in insurance

The PRA has published the remarks of Shoib Khan, Director – Insurance Supervision, at the Insurance Innovators Summit. Mr Khan explained how the regulator has created space and a conducive regulatory environment for innovation; he particularly noted the example of the Lloyd's Lab and the growth of the cyber insurance market in this respect. He also spoke about how the PRA proactively facilitates innovation, noting that the regulator has recently launched the Matching Adjustment Investment Accelerator which is intended to help alleviate the challenges to investing in UK productive assets which life insurers face. He also set out the work that the PRA is undertaking to build a captives regime in the UK that is internationally competitive. Mr Khan concluded by discussing innovation within the PRA itself. [6 Nov 2025] #Cyber

Australia

Independent review of the Enhanced Regulatory Sandbox

The Treasury has announced that in mid-November 2025, it will undertake an independent review of the Enhanced Regulatory Sandbox (ERS). The review will evaluate not only the effectiveness of the ERS through consultation with stakeholders but will also develop recommendations for the government to better facilitate financial innovation within Australia. [Nov 2025] #RegulatorySandbox

Hong Kong

SFC secures first custodial sentence against finfluencer for providing paid investment advice on social media chat group without licence

After being charged in May 2025 (see our previous update), Mr Chau Pak Yin, a finfluencer previously known as Chau Kin Hei, has been convicted at the Eastern Magistrates' Court and sentenced to six weeks' imprisonment, for providing investment advice on a subscription-based chat group on Telegram without a licence. He was also ordered to pay the SFC's investigation costs.

Mr Chau was remanded in custody after his bail application was rejected pending his intended appeal against conviction and sentence.

The Court heard that between 16 April 2021 and 14 May 2021, Mr Chau hosted a chat group on Telegram which welcomed members of the public on paid subscription basis. During that time, he circulated commentaries, recommendations and target prices on various securities and responded to questions raised by paid subscribers of the chat group regarding the performance of securities listed on the Nasdaq. He charged members of the chat group a monthly subscription fee of US$200 or HK$1,560, earning a total of HK$43,680 in subscription fees. [7 Nov 2025] #Finfluencer #SocialMedia

SFC issues guidance in two new circulars to licensed VATP operators to tap global liquidity and diversity offerings

The SFC has published its expected standards for SFC-licensed virtual asset trading platform (VATP) operators in two new circulars, as part of its initiatives under the ASPIRe roadmap to develop Hong Kong as a global virtual asset (VA) hub (see our previous update). The circulars were previewed by Ms Julia Leung (SFC CEO), at a Hong Kong FinTech Week 2025 fireside chat.

In one circular, the SFC sets out its regulatory approach and expected standards for licensed VATP operators to integrate their order books with those of affiliated overseas VATP operators.

• Subject to implementing the measures in the circular, orders from different platforms will be permitted to be combined into an aggregate shared liquidity pool, enabling order matching and execution across platforms. VATP operators seeking to operate shared order books should obtain prior written approval from the SFC. The terms and conditions for operating a shared order book will be imposed on the operator's licence.
• This is SFC's first step under Pillar A (Access) of the ASPIRe roadmap to attract global platforms, order flows and liquidity providers.
• As the next step, the SFC will explore the feasibility of allowing licensed brokers to direct client orders to regulated overseas liquidity pools within the same group before considering whether to expand the arrangement further.

In another circular (with Appendices I, II and III), the SFC broadens the range of products and services that can be offered by SFC-licensed VATPs (advancing Pillar P (Products) of the ASPIRe roadmap), by:

• Modifying the requirements on token admission (for example, allowing VATP operators to offer trading in VAs without a 12-month track record for professional investors and for HKMA-licensed stablecoins);
• Clarifying current regulatory requirements on VATPs for the distribution of tokenised securities and investment products relating to digital assets; and
• Updating the requirements on VATPs providing custody services for their clients' digital assets which may not have been made available for trading via the VATP. [3 Nov 2025] #DigitalAsset #Tokenisation #Stablecoin

HKMA unveils Fintech 2030 at Hong Kong FinTech Week 2025

The HKMA's Chief Executive, Mr Eddie Yue, has unveiled Fintech 2030, a forward-looking strategy for driving Hong Kong's fintech development, at the Hong Kong FinTech Week 2025 in a keynote speech. Fintech 2030 will focus on four strategic pillars, collectively known as 'DART', covering a portfolio of over 40 initiatives, including:

• Creating Next-generation Data and Payment Infrastructure: The HKMA will develop robust and future-ready infrastructure to support secure, efficient and scalable data sharing as well as bolster cross-border payment connectivity, from unlocking credit and boosting trade finance for enterprises, to enabling more personalised financial services and facilitating easier cross-border remittances for individuals.
• A New Holistic 'Artificial Intelligence x Authorised Institutions' Strategy (AI² Strategy): The new strategy will further drive the comprehensive and responsible adoption of AI across the financial sector in Hong Kong and beyond, as well as develop shared, scalable AI infrastructure and finance-specific models in collaboration with industry stakeholders. The HKMA aims to leverage AI to boost accessibility, responsiveness, and customisation in banking services while maintaining transparency and accountability to ensure public trust.
• Enhancing Business, Technology and Quantum Resilience: The HKMA is taking proactive steps to strengthen the resilience of the financial sector, including a new fintech-specific cybersecurity certification framework and a new system of early detection through real-time analysis. In shaping the future of quantum finance, the HKMA will drive industry readiness for post-quantum cryptography and build quantum-safe infrastructure for secured financial services.
• Tokenisation of Finance: The HKMA will accelerate the tokenisation of real-world assets, including financial assets, and regularise the issuance of tokenised government bonds and exploring the concept of tokenising the Exchange Fund papers. Their settlements on blockchains will be enabled by new forms of digital money, including the e-HKD, tokenised deposits, and regulated stablecoins. The HKMA will soon launch the Project Ensemble pilot to empower real-value transactions and will continue to incubate innovative tokenisation use cases in collaboration with industry stakeholders and other central banks. [3 Nov 2025] #Fintech #AI #Payments #Cybersecurity #Tokenisation

Insurance Authority discusses balanced regulation and development and announces whitepaper on federated learning at Hong Kong FinTech week

The Insurance Authority's CEO, Mr Clement Cheung, delivered a keynote presentation at the Hong Kong FinTech Week 2025, discussing the Insurance Authority's dual approach in balancing regulation and development to foster resilience and sustainability.

Mr Cheung highlighted a series of initiatives introduced to strengthen operational resilience while promoting adoption of advanced technologies, including the Open API Framework in September 2023, the Cyber Resilience Assessment Framework and Guideline on Cybersecurity (GL20) issued in December 2024 , the AI Cohort Programme launched in August 2025, and the latest Whitepaper on Federated Learning: Unlocking Innovation in the Insurance Sector just published. He also indicated the development of a new AI governance framework and a virtual assets ecosystem for 2026 and beyond.

In addition, Mr Cheung discussed a number of other topics including climate resilience, Hong Kong as an AI hub, virtual assets and digital currencies, and the 'Insurance Authority Philosophy 4.0'.

The whitepaper on federated learning just published is developed by the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute with the Insurance Authority's support. Federated Learning is a machine learning technique that enables AI models to be trained on decentralised datasets residing on devices or servers, thereby complying with data privacy regulations while facilitating collaboration across different entities and sectors. The whitepaper presents the findings of an Innovation and Technology Fund-supported research project that involved the development of a ready-to-market platform for testing federated learning applications.

Three practical use cases were tested – customer identification, claims forecasting and renewal predictions – and have demonstrated the wide-ranging benefits of federated learning for insurers. The whitepaper recommends that insurers adopt a comprehensive assessment framework addressing data protection, regulatory compliance, and ethical considerations. It also outlines a strategic roadmap to accelerate adoption, focusing on technical optimisation, organisational readiness, and ecosystem collaboration. [3 Nov 2025] #Fintech #Cyber #AI #DigitalAsset

HKMA publishes practical insights report on first cohort of GenAI Sandbox and co-hosts GenAI Symposium to share sandbox outcomes

The HKMA has published a report that summarises the practical insights gained from the first cohort of the GenAI Sandbox.

The GenAI Sandbox provides a risk-controlled environment for banks, supported with targeted supervisory feedback and technical guidance, to develop and test GenAI solutions across three critical domains: risk management, anti-fraud measures, and customer experience.

In the first cohort which was launched in December 2024 (see our previous update), participating banks explored a diverse range of use cases, demonstrating GenAI's potential in areas such as intelligent chatbots, advanced document processing and analysis, and multimodal content generation. These fundamental building blocks underscore GenAI's capacity to streamline operations, enhance customer engagement, and drive product innovation in an enterprise scale.

• Drawing on practical learnings from the technical trials, the report provides guidance to help banks address key challenges throughout the AI implementation lifecycle, including data preparation, model fine-tuning, output evaluation, and ongoing monitoring and optimisation.
• In addition, the participating banks proactively explored methods to address common adoption challenges, such as those relating to hallucination and inaccuracy, bias and fairness, security and privacy, and explainability and transparency.

These findings demonstrate GenAI's potential to add value in banking, particularly in enhancing risk management, anti-fraud capabilities and customer experience. The HKMA encourages authorised institutions to review the report and leverage the insights on how to innovate with AI responsibly. The second cohort (launched in October 2025 – see our previous update) is underway and will continue to explore innovative use cases while deepening investigation into the 'AI vs AI' paradigm, leveraging AI technology itself to better manage risks arising from AI adoption.

The report was presented at the GenAI Symposium co-hosted by the HKMA and Cyberport, which attracted over 500 practitioners from the banking, insurance and technology sectors. The HKMA unveiled a pilot GenAI chatbot to provide users with more interactive access to insights and practical guidance from the sandbox. The chatbot explores the feasibility of deploying a knowledge-bound GenAI solution that addresses common concerns such as hallucinations and inaccuracies. [31 Oct 2025] #GenAI #AI

Thailand

SECT changes knowledge and suitability tests

The Securities and Exchange Commission Thailand (SECT) has announced the amendment regulations for contacting and providing services to investors by initial coin offering (ICO) portals, mandating that ICO portals perform a suitability test, that is, assess investors' suitability for digital token investments, at least once every two years. [4 Nov 2025] #DigitalAsset

US

FINRA CEO comments on AI use

In a post on the FINRA website, Robert Cook, President and CEO of FINRA, has written about how FINRA is advancing its mission using GenAI-enabled tools in its supervisory and regulatory program. [23 Oct 2025] #GenAI #AI