Risk & Resilience

The FCA has published forms, checklists, and practical guidance supporting the UK's new public offers and admissions to trading regime (POATR and the PRM sourcebook), which took effect on January 19, 2026. Compliance teams must use the correct forms for each submission type, particularly for prospectuses approved under the old UKPR that remain valid, and must update base prospectuses to meet the new single disclosure standard.

Bond market volatility increased toward the end of September, while sovereign and corporate bond spreads widened. For Europe's insurers and occupational pension funds, the movements added to concerns about borrowing costs, asset valuations and the possibility of a broader market correction.

It's planning season for many risk management and internal audit functions. CROs and CAEs are deciding where to spend their limited resources, what work to prioritize and what they hope to accomplish in the coming year. I have a question for them. Do you see yourselves in the decision and performance support business?

The Hong Kong SFC has concluded its consultation on amendments to the Securities and Futures (Stock Market Listing) Rules, confirming it will proceed with proposals to introduce continuing conditions on listing applications, post-listing conditions, information requisition powers, and removal of automatic exemptions for certain share issuances. These changes, expected to take effect in Q1 2027, expand the SFC's regulatory toolkit for both IPO and post-IPO oversight, requiring compliance teams supporting listed issuers and sponsors to reassess disclosure, governance, and monitoring processes.

An ECB Lamfalussy Fellowship working paper argues that pairing common EU debt with a non-defaultable common tax can benefit both fiscally strong and fiscally weak member states, rather than functioning as a one-way transfer. While this is academic research rather than policy, it signals the direction of thinking around a future permanent EU common borrowing capacity, which compliance and public policy teams at financial institutions operating in the EU should monitor.

Financial market infrastructures are expected to maintain sufficient equity-backed liquid assets to withstand losses arising from their business operations. An international assessment found problems with how some of those institutions were applying that requirement, prompting further work by two of the financial system's principal standard-setting bodies.

The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has directed insurance and reinsurance companies to review their risk management arrangements after supervisory inspections uncovered weaknesses in risk assessment procedures, operational incident management, and business continuity planning.