Burnham means evolution, not a revolution for financial services The focus is shifting from designing reforms to delivering them The next wave of reforms is already taking shape with AI at the top of the list Growth remains important, but the politics will increasingly focus on the cost of living Fiscal constraints will shape the Chancellor's first Budget Defence, devolution and regional […]
After years of discussion about the need for deeper capital markets and a stronger Single Market in financial services, the debate in Brussels is beginning to shift from why reform is needed to how quickly it can be delivered. Geopolitical tensions, weaker growth and intensifying global competition have transformed financial services into a strategic policy priority. The […]
Hong Kong’s first Five-Year Plan (5YP) consultation, published 15 June, identifies the consolidation of Hong Kong’s position as the leading global offshore Renminbi (RMB) centre as a key policy priority. This is not a new theme. On 20 May, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (FSTB) Christopher Hui’s speech to the Legislative Council (LegCo) reiterated the Hong Kong authorities’ view that RMB internationalisation is core to the […]
One of the most important consequences of geopolitical uncertainty is that it is no longer confined to foreign policy debates. It is increasingly appearing in financial statements, insurance markets and capital allocation decisions. Historically, geopolitical risk was treated as a largely external concern for financial institutions. That assumption is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain. Conflict in Ukraine and the […]
Australia is emerging as a regulatory test case for the future of payments policy across the Asia Pacific. In recent years, Australia has moved beyond incremental rulemaking toward a broad reform agenda spanning digital wallets, buy now pay later (BNPL), stablecoins and stored value facilities, interchange and surcharging, and a redesigned payments licensing perimeter. Few jurisdictions are pursuing payments reform on a comparable […]
This blog post is an updated version of an article first published in Competition Policy International. Introduction: From economic models to commercial reality In the past, merging parties often saw economic evidence – such as a well-crafted merger simulation or upward pricing pressure analysis – as the best way to convince competition authorities to clear a transaction. That is […]
Private credit has reached a point where regulators no longer view it as operating at the margins of finance. The Financial Stability Board’s (FSB’s) latest assessment reflects that shift, marking an important evolution in the regulatory debate. Private credit is no longer viewed merely as an alternative asset class, but as part of the infrastructure […]
Hong Kong’s third place ranking in the latest edition of the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI), closely following New York and London, underscores its ongoing global significance – and change. As the Special Administrative Region (SAR) prepares its first five-year plan (5YP) for 2026-2030, Hong Kong’s policymaking is increasingly being shaped by shifts in financial activity as supply and demand for capital intermediated through the international finance centre (IFC) evolves. Located on the front doorstep of one of the world’s largest evolving sources of capital, issuers and wealth, Hong […]
The EU’s new payments framework is edging closer to the finish line, at least at the level of primary legislation (Level 1), with the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD3) and the new Payment Services Regulation (PSR). With the latest confirmation of the compromise texts on both proposals, policymakers are signalling that the long legislative marathon […]
Prediction markets are moving from the periphery of finance into the regulatory mainstream, emerging as a tool for pricing uncertainty in real time. They challenge a core assumption of financial systems: that markets exist to price assets. Instead, they assign probabilities to future events—creating a new layer of market-based intelligence for capital allocation, risk management […]
ASEAN is seeking to deepen capital market integration in order to mobilise regional savings for investment, reduce reliance on extra-regional financing, and strengthen resilience to external shocks. This agenda has gained urgency amid heightened geopolitical tensions and a shifting global economic order in which middle powers are increasingly pursuing greater strategic and financial autonomy. The […]
Policymakers often refer to the “Brussels Effect”, the term for how the European Union has historically exerted influence on global regulatory standards through the size of its market and the reach of its rules to market participants beyond the EU. Brussels often pushes more prescriptive rules ex-ante, which have often clashed with the more principles-based approach preferred by the U.S.. There is no question that Brussels’ global influence on standards setting […]
