Chetwood Bank has announced the launch of its Wholesale Banking division with the appointment of Alex Grove as Managing Director of Wholesale Banking, Toby Sharp FRICS as Director of Commercial Real Estate and Nirvan Sunderam as Managing Director of Wholesale Risk. Through the Wholesale Banking division, Chetwood Bank provides tailored funding solutions to corporate, institutional and specialist lending customers. Its role is to originate, structure and manage larger-scale lending relationships that support the bank’s strategic growth, diversify income, and make disciplined use of capital. Grove will join Chetwood Bank’s Executive Committee and will lead the Wholesale Banking division as the UK digital challenger bank continues to build capability across structured finance, commercial real estate, and wider investment activity. Sharp will report directly to Grove, while Sunderam will lead the second-line risk function for Wholesale activities reporting into the bank’s Chief Risk Officer. Chetwood Bank has grown to a £7 billion balance sheet, funded primarily through retail deposits, and combines retail savings with mortgage lending and Wholesale Banking activity. The bank has a £3 billion mortgage lending portfolio and lent £1 billion through active forward flow relationships in the last financial year, while also expanding to participate in structured finance markets and non-GBP assets. The appointments bring together senior expertise across investment management, commercial real estate, market risk, and structured finance. Grove has held senior roles at Intrum, BAWAG P.S.K., and Morgan Stanley; Sharp has held senior real estate finance and securitisation roles at Hamburg Commercial Bank, BAWAG P.S.K., and Credit Suisse; and Sunderam has held senior structuring and risk roles across Bank of America, UBS, and Pemberton Capital Advisors. Paul Noble, CEO of Chetwood Bank, said: “This is an important step for our Wholesale Banking division, giving us leadership capability that reflects the scale of the opportunity ahead and the standards we set for how we operate. Alex, Toby and Nirvan bring experience across the areas that matter most to this part of the business, from structured finance and investment management to commercial real estate and risk, and I’m confident their expertise will strengthen how we evolve and build long-term relationships with institutional partners.” Alex Grove, Managing Director of Wholesale Banking at Chetwood Bank, said: “I am very much looking forward to working with Paul and the rest of the team. Chetwood Bank is an outstanding platform on which to build a leading wholesale business, and we intend to make the most of this opportunity.”

BNP Paribas’ Securities Services business, a leading global custodian with EUR 14.3 trillion in assets under custody1, today announces its mandate with BCC Risparmio & Previdenza S.G.R.p.A., the asset management company of the Iccrea Cooperative Banking Group, to provide an integrated suite of services covering EUR 8 billion in assets under administration, including the Aureo open-ended pension fund and Italian-domiciled UCITS funds. Under this mandate, Securities Services at BNP Paribas provides BCC Risparmio & Previdenza with services including custody, fund accounting, transfer agency, middle office and OTC collateral management, in addition to the depositary bank services. The offerings also fit into BNP Paribas Group's integrated bank model, supporting SGR’s operational needs from custody to administration, and to investment banking through a single point of contact. BCC Risparmio & Previdenza, the asset management arm of the BCC Iccrea Group, supports the Group in developing solutions in asset management and pension. The company manages approximately EUR 38 billion in assets. Andrea Cattaneo, Head of Italy, Switzerland and Iberia, Securities Services, BNP Paribas, commented: “We are pleased to support BCC Risparmio & Previdenza, a key partner in the Italian asset management landscape and the cooperative banking sector. This mandate is a testament to the confidence placed in our ability to tailor our offering to the specific needs of each client to ensure operational efficiency. We appreciate the trust from the management team of BCC Rispamio & Previdenza, and we are proud of how our team has successfully delivered the onboarding services.” Andrea Cecchini, Chief Executive Officer of BCC Risparmio & Previdenza S.G.R.p.A., commented: “Our range of products has grown significantly over time. We are delighted to sign this agreement with BNP Paribas. Leveraging its leading position in Europe, global operating model, and regulatory expertise, its Securities Services team has enabled us to guarantee high service quality to our BCC customers and provides us with complete assistance for our non-Italian law solutions. This also marks a new step for us to advance the quality of our products and to answer the evolving needs of our customers.” As of 31 March 2026. Source: BNP Paribas’ Securities Services website    

Archax, the UK/EU regulated digital asset platform, today announced the launch of $GOVY, a tokenised, perpetual US Treasury Bill (T-Bill) product, designed to align with high-quality liquid assets (HQLA) principles. $GOVY gives investors direct, legally-enforceable exposure to auto-rolling, short-dated US government securities with embedded on-chain settlement, custody and delivery rights - and with no active management required by the investor. The Archax $GOVY token represents ownership of continuously rolling, short-dated T-Bills, removing the operational complexity typically associated with managing maturing T-Bill positions. The product then combines the capabilities of blockchain-based smart contracts - instant settlement, 24/7 availability - with the expectations of traditional institutional clients, such as legal enforceability, collateral eligibility, regulated custody. Crucially, without using a fund or SPV structure. “$GOVY brings together the safety and familiarity of US T-Bills with the operational advantages of tokenisation,” said Graham Rodford, CEO and co-founder of Archax. “Professional and institutional investors can now access government yield in a structure that is fully regulated, legally robust and operationally simple - without the friction of traditional settlement cycles, SPVs or fund wrappers.” How $GOVY Works Investors can subscribe through an Archax brokerage account, or from whitelisted wallets using eligible stablecoins. Archax purchases and tokenises the corresponding T-Bills, which are held 1:1 in regulated custody. As each T-Bill matures, it is automatically replaced within the $GOVY token by the next equivalent short-dated instrument, providing perpetual, continuously rolling exposure. Investors can redeem $GOVY for stablecoins or take delivery of the underlying T-Bill at any time. Importantly, investors retain legal ownership of their specific underlying T-Bills throughout. Key Features and Benefits   FCA-Regulated InfrastructureArchax is authorised by the UK Financial Conduct Authority to custody both traditional and tokenised securities. Although issued and governed by FCA regulations, the product is available outside the UK too. Direct Legal OwnershipLegal title to the underlying T-Bills is held in an insolvency-remote nominee vehicle under UK trust law. No opaque SPV structures or fund wrappers, nor use of lesser regulatory jurisdictions.  Pool Token Structure Leverages Archax’s innovative, patent-pending ‘pool token’ technology to provide single-token access to rolling tokenised T-Bills, which the investor can ‘open’ to take delivery of the underlying tokenised T-Bills they own, at any time. Institutional-Grade CustodyArchax is the regulated digital asset custodian for the $GOVY tokens, utilising Northern Trust for custody of the underlying US T-Bills. Multi-Currency IssuanceThe $GOVY launch will soon be followed by similar products in other currencies and tenors, including: GBP (£GOVY) and EUR (€GOVY). Operational EfficiencyInvestors can utilise instant subscriptions and redemptions to a single token with continuously rolling entitlement to T-Bills, without manual roll management. Cost EfficiencyLow custody and transaction fees with no additional intermediary or fund management layers. $GOVY will initially be available to non-US investors and will be issued on Ethereum, Hedera and Stellar, with support for other blockchains to follow. Transferability is restricted to whitelisted wallets, ensuring compliance with regulatory and investor eligibility requirements. The underlying assets consist of short-dated US T-Bills held 1:1 against the issued tokens. The launch of GOVY tokens marks another milestone in Archax’s mission to build regulated infrastructure for the tokenisation, custody, trading and distribution of both cryptoassets and real-world assets. For more information on GOVY, visit https://govy.finance/.

Triparty collateral solution strengthens capital efficiency, operational scalability, collateral and liquidity management for a growing international client base  Euronext, the leading European capital market infrastructure, and BNY, a global financial services company, today announced a strategic collaboration to enhance the collateral management capabilities of Euronext Clearing across asset classes, notably for cleared repo. By leveraging BNY’s world-class collateral infrastructure and $7.8 trillion liquidity pool, this collaboration enhances the collateral management capabilities of Euronext Clearing, enabling members to manage their cleared activity more efficiently, including margin and default fund contributions. Euronext joins a growing number of CCPs trusting BNY’s collateral solutions to support efficient and scalable cleared market activity. This initiative represents a key step in expanding Euronext’s pan-European repo clearing offering, supporting clients with more efficient, flexible and scalable collateral solutions as demand for cleared repo continues to grow across Europe. Advancing capital efficiency through collateral optimisation Under this collaboration, BNY will act as a triparty agent, enabling enhanced collateral management capabilities for Euronext’s members. By combining BNY’s Global Collateral Platform with clearing capabilities from Euronext Clearing, clients will have access to automated and flexible collateral solutions designed to improve operational efficiency, optimise margin and balance sheet usage, and enhance liquidity management. As an independent third party, BNY’s leading platform for managing collateral at scale will support the selection, valuation and substitution of collateral, ensuring compliance with eligibility requirements while enabling efficient collateral optimisation. Importantly, clients will be able to manage both cleared and uncleared exposures on a single integrated platform, providing greater transparency, control, operational consistency and potential optimisation benefits across all their collateral activity. Supporting the next phase of European cleared repo market evolution The collaboration comes at a time of structural change in European repo markets, as participants are facing tighter balance sheet constraints, evolving regulatory expectations and increasing demand for centrally cleared solutions.  Euronext Clearing’s value proposition now extends beyond Italian government bonds to a broader range of asset classes, enabling the onboarding of international banks and institutional clients. Enabling scalable growth under Innovate for Growth 2027 Collaborating with BNY is a foundational element in the scaling of Euronext’s expanded repo clearing offering. It forms part of Euronext’s broader “Innovate for Growth 2027” strategy, aimed at strengthening its post-trade franchise and delivering best-in-class clearing and collateral management solutions. This collaboration marks the expansion of Euronext’s triparty collateral ecosystem, building on earlier integrations with triparty agents, and reinforcing Euronext Clearing as a scalable and flexible platform for collateral optimisation. Camille Beudin, Chief Diversification Officer, Euronext, said: “This collaboration with BNY represents another important milestone in the execution of our Innovate for Growth 2027 strategy. By enhancing our triparty collateral capabilities, we are enabling clients to manage collateral more efficiently, optimise capital usage and access deeper liquidity pools. This is central to our strategy to build a more integrated, resilient and competitive European market infrastructure.”  Gesa Johannsen, Executive Platform Owner for Global Collateral Platform, BNY, said: “As the collateral industry increasingly adopts clearing solutions, we are excited to collaborate with Euronext Clearing, bringing our global expertise in designing capital-efficient, integrated repo clearing and collateral solutions to the European market. By connecting Euronext Clearing into BNY’s $7.8 trillion Global Collateral platform, clients benefit from access to deep liquidity and can seamlessly optimise collateral across cleared and uncleared obligations on a single, integrated platform.”

Bitso provides a secure and seamless gateway for cross-border liquidity between Latin America and Asia, embedding compliance directly into its core infrastructure  At the closing of the Stablecoin Conference 2026, the company also revealed the winners of its annual global accelerator program, The Push 2026 Bitso Business, the B2B arm of Bitso, Latin America's leading digital financial services group, announced today during the second day of the Stablecoin Conference 2026 the expansion of its operations to Asia. Driven by a surge in demand from Asian enterprises looking to explore new, trusted business opportunities across Latin America, Bitso’s global infrastructure is now actively enabling these corridors through its fully compliant regulatory rails. Alongside the geographic expansion, Bitso Business launched a unique API in Colombia, designed to equip clients with a comprehensive real-time payments experience in the country. Additionally, the company disclosed new expansions to its investment portfolio by revealing the winners of The Push 2026, its annual global stablecoin startup accelerator.  The new builders Bitso is accelerating and investing in include: Etherfuse (Mexico): Offers tokenized sovereign bonds for global markets, giving anyone access to government-backed yields that are freely transferable onchain. Checker (USA): A global network enabling financial institutions to access and execute multiple digital asset operations via a single API. Latitude (USA): Unlocks the global economy for businesses with real-time global fiat payouts and stablecoin on/off-ramps. li>Saf.Money (El Salvador): Delivers simple and fast cross-border settlements in Central America by uniting Bitcoin, stablecoins, and bank rails into a single network. "As Bitso Business expands its operations globally, we address the number one concern of financial institutions: compliance and trust," said Imran Ahmad, Bitso COO and General Manager of Bitso Business. "Throughout our decade-long journey, we have consistently prioritized security over rapid growth. Every time we launch a new product or enter a new market, we ensure we are fully compliant from day one. This commitment is, in fact, our greatest competitive advantage. We have spent over ten years working alongside regulators and local authorities to build a rock-solid framework, and it is exactly this infrastructure that now allows us to seamlessly bridge Latin America with Asia, giving our clients a secure, trusted gateway to move liquidity across continents." Ahmad continued: "Today’s announcements solidify a belief we hold deeply: to truly transform the way people move money and unlock new business opportunities for Latin America, you must build with a relentless focus on infrastructure, people, and security. That is why we are investing heavily in advanced technology, backing the broader ecosystem, and placing compliance as a non-negotiable priority in everything we do. Through the Bitso group, we have built a suite of specialized entities, including Nvio and Juno, that enables us to offer a single, unified infrastructure for FX, onchain liquidity, and instant local on/off-ramps. Corporate clients do not want to manage separate, fragmented providers for their crossborder operations. By packaging this into a single API, we give businesses a full real-time experience that handles local pay-ins, payouts, tokenized assets, and FX instantaneously."  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today issued a Request for Information to assist the Commission in identifying regulations, guidance documents, orders, no-action letters, and other items (“CFTC regulatory item(s)”) that unduly impede fintech firms from entering into partnerships with federally regulated institutions as well as CFTC regulatory items that could be amended to streamline application processes for eligible fintech firms.   This Request for Information will assist the Commission in complying with its obligations under Executive Order 14405. Additionally, the Request for Information will help the Commission identify which CFTC regulatory item(s) could be updated to facilitate innovation and competition for fintech firms.  The comment period will be open for 21 days after publication in the Federal Register. Comments may be submitted electronically through Regulations.gov or by the other methods detailed in the request. All comments received will be posted on Regulations.gov. RELATED LINKS Request for Information: Identifying Regulations to Facilitate Innovation and Competition to Financial Products and Services for Fintech Firms

Shield, the global communications surveillance platform for financial services, today extended the reach of its communications surveillance platform to cover Microsoft 365 Copilot interactions and image-based content, bringing two of the fastest-growing compliance blind spots under active monitoring.  Microsoft 365 Copilot is already deeply embedded in financial services workflows, with more than 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies now using it — institutions including Barclays, UBS, and Lloyds Banking Group have collectively deployed it to nearly 200,000 employees. For most of those firms, however, every employee prompt and AI response sits entirely outside compliance workflows, unarchived, unsupervised, and unavailable for search or review.  Regulators have not waited for the market to catch up. FINRA Rule 4511 and the 2026 Oversight Report make clear that recordkeeping obligations apply to business communications regardless of channel or format. In the UK and across EU jurisdictions where MAR applies, the expectation is the same. The FCA has stated directly that firms with unmonitored risks and no strategic plan to address them are “a long way from meeting our expectations.”  According to the 1LoD 2026 Surveillance Benchmarking Report, 67 percent of banks say applying surveillance across multiple communication channels is already a major challenge, and 22 percent of firms now monitor more than 30 channels, up from 14 percent two years ago. Coverage obligations are expanding faster than most compliance teams can match. Screenshots, photos of documents, and scanned materials are now routine in business communication, and the text inside them has rarely been treated as a native part of the surveillance workflow.  “Comprehensive surveillance has always meant capturing everything material to business conduct. But what counts as material is changing — AI-assisted conversations and image-based content are now part of daily workflows at every major financial institution.” Tamar Sharir Beiser, Chief Product Officer at Shield What Shield Is Delivering  Shield’s platform will now bring both gaps inside the compliance perimeter, addressing areas regulators and compliance teams increasingly cite as unresolved, and where operational risk has been building. Both capabilities are set to be natively embedded in Shield’s existing platform, applying the same compliance controls firms already rely on for every other communication channel.  The native connector for Microsoft 365 Copilot captures every employee prompt and AI response, flowing them directly into Shield’s existing archive, search, case management, surveillance, and export workflows. Copilot interactions are processed end-to-end in under 24 hours, with rich metadata preserved for audit and investigation — fulfilling regulatory requirements for AI-assisted communications without adding new tools, portals, or process steps.  OCR Text Extraction for Image Attachments brings image-based content into the same surveillance stack. Text inside screenshots, scanned documents, and photos is now extracted, indexed, and analyzed, with triggered terms highlighted inline directly below each image. This eliminates manual inspection and makes image-based content fully searchable for investigation and e-discovery. The capability is built into Shield’s existing unified pipeline, validated through prototype testing with multiple customers.  “Comprehensive surveillance has always meant capturing everything material to business conduct. But what counts as material is changing — AI-assisted conversations and image-based content are now part of daily workflows at every major financial institution,” said Tamar Sharir Beiser, Chief Product Officer at Shield. “Shield’s role is to ensure that as communication evolves, the compliance infrastructure around it evolves too, so firms are never in a position where their governance framework is trailing their technology adoption.”  Regulators have already answered whether AI-assisted conversations and image-based content need to be monitored. For financial firms, the operational challenge is bringing those channels inside the compliance perimeter without disrupting the workflows their teams already rely on. Shield’s latest capabilities do both. 

Nodal Exchange, in collaboration with IncubEx, announced today the successful launch of several new environmental futures and options, including: CORSIA, California Carbon Offsets and Massachusetts CPEC contracts.  Nodal is listing the following new contracts: CORSIA Phase 1 Eligible Emission Unit (2024 – 2026) Futures and Options California Carbon Offsets 8 with Direct Environmental Benefits (DEBs) Futures Massachusetts Clean Peak Energy Certificate Futures The physically-delivered CORSIA Phase 1 Eligible Emissions Unit Futures and Options are designed to meet the criteria of the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) CORSIA 2024-2026 compliance period. The California Carbon Offsets 8 DEBs Futures contract is physically delivered with certificates issued by California Air Resources Board. The new contract complements 3 other California Carbon Offset futures listed on Nodal. The Massachusetts Clean Peak Energy Certificate Futures contract is physically delivered with certificates from the state’s Clean Peak Energy Standard and adds to the 7 listed Massachusetts products on Nodal. This launch also includes an extension of the Washington Carbon Allowance Future and Washington Carbon Allowance Vintage-Specific Future to Vintage 2030. “The new products mark another milestone for Nodal and IncubEx, which continue to expand the market for environmental products,” said Dan Scarbrough, CEO of IncubEx. “The customer support and input is what drives these new products and shows how the North American and international environmental market continues to evolve.” “Nodal and IncubEx continue to look for ways to meet customer needs and this latest set of products illustrates that,” said Paul Cusenza, CEO of Nodal Exchange. “At Nodal, we will expand and grow our markets in valuable ways for our customers.” Nodal Exchange, in collaboration with IncubEx, have built the broadest market for environmental products, with more than 125 futures and options.

Government has today (16 June) set out in further detail what Chris Woolard will focus on and deliver. The published Terms of Reference, Terms of Reference - Wholesale Digital Markets Champion (PDF, 209 KB, 3 pages), sets out how he will lead industry in driving the adoption of digital technologies across UK markets, increasing competitiveness, driving down cost and enhancing resilience. On 21 April, the government appointed Chris Woolard CBE as the Wholesale Digital Markets Champion to provide market leadership and support industry progress on the development of a tokenised wholesale financial markets ecosystem, as well as to support the government’s work to deliver a more efficient and competitive financial sector. Following a meeting between the Economic Secretary to the Treasury and Chris to discuss the forward plan for this work, the Government is today publishing the Terms of Reference for this role, setting out how the Champion will work in partnership with industry and government to accelerate the digitalisation of UK wholesale financial markets. Under the Terms of Reference, the Champion will provide leadership to co-ordinate the sector’s wider implementation of digital as outlined in the Wholesale Financial Markets Digital Strategy, which was published on 15 July 2025 as part of the Leeds Reforms. The strategy covers the immediate steps to optimise UK markets by replacing outdated processes, as well as medium to longer term steps to transform UK markets by realising the benefits of emerging technologies, particularly the adoption of tokenisation through use of distributed ledger technology (DLT). The Champion will: Establish a cross-industry taskforce, with representatives from across the market ecosystem, to provide input and support. Deliver a report to the Chancellor, developed with the sector, covering how UK wholesale markets can best adopt tokenisation and other related technologies, as well as how the sector and government can ensure DLT interoperability. Promote the delivery of the Wholesale Financial Markets Digital Strategy across the sector. Co-ordinate with the Chairs of the other workstreams (on AST and DEMAT) as they implement their programmes to deliver T+1 and remove paper shares. The Terms of Reference sets out a clear timetable for delivery. The Champion will provide an initial forward look, including plans to establish the industry taskforce, by July 2026. A full report on DLT adoption and interoperability will be submitted to the Chancellor by July 2027. The appointment will run for 18 months, with ongoing work to support implementation of the strategy across the sector. The role is unpaid.

A new peace agreement between the United States and Iran is poised to shift market dynamics, easing inflationary pressures and refocusing investor attention on the booming AI sector and the outlook for Bitcoin, according to Marc des Ligneris, Senior Portfolio Manager at CoinShares. "The major development this week is the peace agreement between the United States and Iran," des Ligneris stated. He noted that the nearly four-month closure of the Strait of Hormuz had a significant inflationary impact, contributing to higher rates in Europe and creating a challenging environment for the Federal Reserve. "For risk assets, the end of the conflict is clearly positive." With the conflict resolved, des Ligneris predicts that normalizing supply chains will allow investors to return their focus to the massive wave of capital expenditure related to artificial intelligence. "Technology companies continue to invest heavily in data center infrastructure, supporting manufacturing activity and economic growth," he explained. "Across the AI ecosystem, companies are also raising capital and pursuing IPOs to finance these investments." This trend marks a significant shift from the market environment of the last fifteen years, which was dominated by share buybacks. "Going forward, markets are likely to be less predictable and potentially more volatile," he added. Meanwhile, des Ligneris noted that Bitcoin and the broader crypto market have recently faced pressure from shifting monetary policy expectations and capital being diverted to high-profile IPOs. This led to the first genuine net outflow from Bitcoin ETFs since their launch. However, he sees a turning point on the horizon. "Interestingly, our proprietary market indicator...has recently approached levels that have historically coincided with major market bottoms."Looking ahead, des Ligneris believes the macroeconomic backdrop is becoming more favorable for Bitcoin. "The main source of inflationary pressure appears set to fade, while the adoption of AI technologies could prove structurally deflationary over the medium term. This combination should create a more supportive backdrop for Bitcoin in the months ahead." He concluded that as inflation risks recede and financial advisors become more equipped to recommend Bitcoin, "current market levels may offer an attractive opportunity to build strategic allocations."

The European Banking Authority (EBA) continues to execute on its simplification and efficiency programme. After proposals in April to reduce the reporting burden for banks and for a simpler stress-test in 2027, it publishes today a comprehensive review of the EU bank microprudential, macroprudential and resolution capital framework, including proposals to simplify it. The proposals aim to reduce complexity while preserving banks’ resilience and resolvability as well as authorities’ tools, and to ensure the framework remains focused on emerging and materially evolving risks. Building on its July 2024 description of the microprudential, macroprudential and resolution capital regime in the EU (“stacking order”) and on its October 2025 Report on the efficiency of the regulatory and supervisory framework (“TFE report”), the EBA provides a comprehensive overview of the implementation of capital requirements and buffers in the EU over the past decade. It also identifies a number of improvements to their design and interaction without weakening the resilience built over the past decade. The Report does not advocate a fundamental redesign. It focusses on adjustments to improve consistency, predictability and effectiveness while ensuring the acquired resilience of the European banking system is preserved. Recommendations are being assessed against four guiding principles: preserving overall resilience and capital neutrality; adhering to international standards; ensuring proportionality; and enhancing the efficiency and depth of the Single Market. The Report also discusses options which are not recommended. Taking a holistic perspective, the Report recommends the following simplification measures: A simpler microprudential stack: To preserve the existing risk-based microprudential toolkit including Pillar 1, Pillar 2 requirements (P2R) and Pillar 2 guidance (P2G) while clarifying and strengthening their respective roles; To sharpen the focus of supervisory tools on institution-specific and emerging risks; To remove macroprudential considerations from the microprudential stack; To simplify the leverage ratio (LR) stack, by converting the LR Pillar 2 requirement into a buffer and removing the LR guidance. A simpler macroprudential stack: To combine the current countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB) and the systemic risk buffer (SyRB) into a single releasable buffer supported by a high-level common methodology; To update the O-SII framework, including enhancements to the scoring methodology and considering buffer calibration. A simpler resolution stack: To streamline the MREL framework, including the alignment of definitions of TLAC and MREL eligible resources. reducing metrics and simplifying adjustments, to reduce operational complexity. Taken together, the Report makes an in-depth contribution to the simplification debate by setting out detailed recommendations to reduce the number of regulatory layers and stacks. In line with the TFE, this Report also highlights the importance of coordination amongst the authorities responsible for using these various instruments although it does not discuss it.  Notes for editors Today’s publication marks the third major milestone under the EBA’s communication campaign “Simplifying to strengthen: building a more efficient EU prudential and supervisory framework”. This initiative is part of the EBA’s broader priority to simplify and enhance the efficiency of the regulatory and supervisory framework, in line with the work of its Task Force on Efficiency (TFE) and the EBA’s Report on the efficiency of the regulatory and supervisory framework, published on 1 October 2025. It delivers, in particular, on Recommendation 9 of the TFE, which called for for streamlining the interaction of capital buffers, MDA requirements, and multiple own funds, leverage and TLAC/MREL requirements. TFE recommendation 14 in the TFE report sits in the section on the “holistic picture” and recommends an analysis of the coordination between public authorities which his underway with a view to complementing the present work on the design of the instruments. The Report builds on the EBA’s 2024 Report on stacking orders and capital buffers, which illustrates the complexity, granularity and multi-layered nature of the EU banking regulatory framework, and the large number of interacting prudential and resolution requirements that institutions must manage. The proposals are also linked to the revision of the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP) Guidelines, consulted on 24 October 2025 with the final report forthcoming. Documents Report on simplifying the stacking orders of the EU prudential and resolution framework (2.14 MB - PDF) Related content Topic Own funds Topic Simplification and efficiency of the Regulatory and Supervisory Framework

Rafael Moral Santiago, Head Securities Services and Member of the Executive Board, will leave SIX. Marion Leslie, Head Financial Information and Member of the Executive Board, will assume responsibility for the business unit on an interim basis with immediate effect. SIX today announced that Rafael Moral Santiago, Head Securities Services and Member of the Executive Board, will leave the company with immediate effect. Rafael Moral Santiago joined SIX in May 2025. Over the past year, he has made valuable contributions to the development of the business unit and has helped advance a number of important strategic and operational initiatives. “On behalf of the Executive Board and the Board of Directors, I would like to thank Rafael for his commitment and contribution over the past year,” said Bjørn Sibbern, CEO of SIX. “We appreciate his dedication to the business and wish him every success in his future endeavours. I would also like to thank Marion for taking on the additional responsibility during this transition period, while continuing to lead SIX Financial Information successfully.” The Securities Services Business Unit is very well positioned and fully focused on delivering for clients and executing its strategic priorities. The business unit records growth across all core products and service segments. The interim appointment of Marion Leslie remains subject to the required regulatory approvals. SIX will communicate the permanent succession once a decision has been made.

Highlights Later life lending has the potential to become the fourth pillar in retirement, but there is work to do to deliver on that ambition. To deepen consumer trust and deliver good outcomes, a joined-up approach across product design, advice, and support is needed. The FCA will support a better-functioning market, but industry must take the lead. Introduction In the years ahead, housing wealth will become an increasing part of how many people provide for their retirement. But it continues to be seen as an option of last resort, if thought about at all. Knowing I had this speech, as an experiment at a recent BBQ I had a conversation with my friends about retirement and savings – none of whom work in financial services. They talked about their employers’ pensions, SIPPs, ISAs, investments, and potential business ventures to supplement income in retirement. None brought up later life lending, or how they could use their home to help. I don’t believe my friends are unique in this. When consumers begin to consider their options for funding their retirement, they usually look to pensions: their state pension, workplace pensions, and personal pensions. The 3 pillars. But why should it stop there? Why should retirement planning focus only on these 3 pillars, and not on all assets available to the consumer? I am grateful for the opportunity to speak to you here today – you are the leaders from across the later life lending market, and through your actions the future of this market can be reshaped to meet the increasing needs of UK citizens. In this speech I want to deliver a simple message: There is an increasing generational and social need to provide greater funding in retirement. There is real opportunity to respond to this future demand by developing products people need, improving access to advice, and building trust. And the FCA will do its part to foster good outcomes for consumers and the appropriate growth of this market to meet future needs. But you need to step forward. Because if you don’t, I expect others will step in to define that future. A future where consumers think about their accumulated housing wealth as a fourth pillar for retirement funding, both by choice and necessity. Why later life lending matters more now The pressures facing future retirees are becoming harder to ignore. There is growing recognition of a fundamental problem. Too many people are heading towards retirement without the income they will need to maintain their standard of living. The Pensions Commission has found that 15 million working-age adults will not have the retirement income they aspire to. People are living longer and working longer. But they may not fully appreciate their means and needs when they stop working. More and more people will reach retirement without fully understanding the scale of the gap they may face. And that may come as a shock when reality sets in. But many of these people have made difficult budgetary decisions early in their working lives to buy their home and through that act achieve a sense of stability and long-term security. Their home matters to them – and more so because it can also provide for their financial security in later life. This is more than plugging a retirement income gap. For some, it can fund improvements that allow them to comfortably remain in their own home, or meet care needs. For others, it is a strategic choice to manage their estate, or gift to their family. Fairer Finance research suggests that by 2040, 51% of households aged 60 and over could benefit from accessing their housing wealth in retirement through later life lending. It is estimated that these consumers will hold around £4.3 trillion in housing wealth. The same research estimates that it could unlock around £23 billion each year in today’s prices - many times bigger than today’s market. That gives a sense of the scale of the opportunity. We should not be talking about it as a market niche, but becoming part of a much bigger, everyday conversation about achieving financial resilience in later life. The market is not yet ready to deliver But despite all of that, the market is not yet positioned to deliver at scale. Our data shows that of the almost 330,000 mortgages advanced to over-55s in 2025, only 9% were lifetime mortgages or retirement interest-only products. That is only around 30,000 contracts last year. I believe this reflects challenges in both supply and demand.  Supply: The current engagement levels with the market suggest that it may not be ready to support the future demand.  And that is a problem if we want to grow this market. Demand: Too often, consumers engage only when they are under financial pressures, when they feel their options are limited. And advice is often not considering those options for retirees. But that is not how this market should be seen. Later life lending needs to be something consumers consider early, openly, and with confidence as part of their long-term planning. It won’t be for everyone. But for some, perhaps many, it is a viable and positive option. Unless the market adapts, it will miss both the opportunity to grow the market demand and fail to meet genuine consumer need. But how can you begin to build this fourth pillar now? Products that meet real needs The first building block is the products themselves. If later life lending is to become the fourth pillar, the market cannot rely entirely on existing products and funding models to meet tomorrow’s needs. We start from a position of strength – the UK financial services market is among the most innovative in the world. This market has innovated to produce products that offer more protections, more flexibilities and more features. Innovation does not automatically mean more value for consumers. Because it can sometimes mean greater complexity and cost. The test is not whether products are more sophisticated. But whether they work better for consumers, helping them achieve good outcomes. Looking ahead, future retirees will have different needs and different levels of wealth. We should ask whether today’s baseline is still the right one. But product design is only part of the picture. Funding matters too. Unchallenged, bulk annuity capital is likely to remain the primary source of funding for decades to come. But if we want more innovation and choice, we should ask what alternative funding can unlock, and how to grow it. That includes options such as securitisation and forward flow arrangements. Building trust and the consumer journey But access to products on its own will not solve the problem we are seeing in this market. Good outcomes also depend on trust. Trust in the product, trust in the adviser, and above all, trust in the result. And that is where the consumer journey still falls short. Many consumers are unaware of later life lending as an option. And for those who are, they are influenced by historic perceptions that continue to shape attitudes today.  That raises some questions: What is the market doing today to actively change perceptions? What is it doing to engage consumers early in their financial planning? If the underlying need is clear but take-up is still limited, we have to ask where the journey is breaking down. Is it awareness? Is it trust? Or both? Fragmented advice, poor outcomes Where consumers do engage, they are not always supported to consider the full range of options available to them. Instead, the market is in silos – set up for mortgages, pensions, investments and later life planning to play in different parts of the pitch. Advisers often don’t consider the full journey. Or most importantly, work together to achieve a holistic good outcome for the consumer. But consumers do not live their lives in silos. We want to see advice that supports informed, confident decision-making across all available options. That means advisers looking across the whole consumer journey, not just part of the market. It means moving from product-led conversations to genuinely holistic ones. We have seen some progress. Referral models are one example, and they matter. But they should be a starting point, not the end game. The challenge now is to be bolder. More ambitious. To think differently about how advice is structured, how expertise is shared, and how consumers are supported to reach better outcomes. We share the market’s vision for more holistic advice But what does this actually look like in practice? How far can we push the boundaries of advice? This is not just about removing barriers to holistic advice but also exploring the opportunities to deliver it.  The role of technology Lasting change will depend on the choices the industry makes. On product design, on advice, and on the confidence it gives consumers to engage earlier and more openly with their options. Technology will have a key role to play. As director of retail banking, I can already see innovation in areas like blockchain and AI beginning to reshape the banking sector. How payments are made, how contracts are executed, and even how homes are bought and sold. AI and data-driven tools are already beginning to reshape advice, sourcing and decision-making. Used well, they could support earlier engagement, help consumers navigate complex decisions, and enable more consistent support across the market. We should be asking now what changes like these could mean for this market. We should not wait for innovation to happen elsewhere first before bringing it forward here too. Because as technology evolves, this market will need to evolve with it. The FCA is doing its part - are you? And the market has already shown that it can evolve. Standards are much stronger than they once were. The work of the Equity Release Council has played an important part in that progress. Advisers have the expertise to guide consumers. The challenge now is not proving that better outcomes are possible. It is making them easier to deliver at scale.  The FCA is doing its part. One of our priorities is to help consumers navigate their financial lives, and that includes how they use the assets they hold. We are already making changes. We are consulting on retirement interest-only affordability, because we believe this product could play a larger role. This summer, we will hold workshops to help explore what it would take to make more holistic advice a reality. We are ready to listen. So come and talk to us.  And we are conducting our focused market study on the later life mortgage market. To examine whether change is needed to enable this sector to meet consumers’ changing needs, driven by effective competition. Our market study is looking at: How the market is meeting needs, innovating and funding to help build scale. How consumers move through the market. How they navigate between mainstream and later life options. And where the current system may be falling short. On completion of the market study, we will push forward changes identified that help support a market that works better for consumers and is trusted, responsible and scalable. Regulation has a role to play in addressing some of the barriers. But it can only take the market so far. You – the later life sector – bring something important to the table: deep product expertise, a strong understanding of later life needs and vulnerabilities, and a real focus on outcomes. That means you are well placed to help shape what the fourth pillar of retirement funding becomes in practice. We want to work with you to support a better future market. If we get this right, the prize is much bigger than market growth alone. It is a future where more consumers can approach later life with confidence and control over the choices available to them. The opportunity here is clear. Step forward.

 Broadridge-backed LTX integrates real-time, actionable agentic AI directly into daily fixed income trading workflows   LTX, an AI-powered corporate bond e-trading venue backed by global Fintech leader, Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR), today announced the launch of new agentic capabilities in its award-winning BondGPT application that enable users to create AI agents that advance investing and trading workflows on the LTX trading platform. Agentic capabilities include monitoring real-time market conditions, surfacing opportunities, and taking other predefined actions such as creating a trade ticket or launching a trade on their behalf.     “Agentic BondGPT brings practical, trader-controlled AI into fixed income investing and trading workflows by helping market participants define what matters, monitor the market continuously, and respond faster when the conditions they are looking for appear,” said Jim Kwiatkowski, CEO of LTX. "When we launched BondGPT, our goal was to make it easier and faster for traders to discover information and uncover opportunities. Agentic AI capabilities in BondGPT present the next step in that journey, enabling traders to delegate tasks and move more seamlessly from discovery and analysis to implementation and execution.”   Beyond receiving fast answers to complex bond-related questions, BondGPT users can now easily create agents using simple instructions that can take trading workflow actions when user-defined market conditions take place. BondGPT agents can generate automated alerts, create trade tickets, make dealer selections, launch RFQs, accept prices to automatically execute, and other workflow tasks, all under trader-defined parameters and human oversight. BondGPT’s agentic AI-powered capabilities are designed to help users safely delegate select tasks while keeping the trader in control. Guardrails include human-in-the-loop approvals, policy-driven limits on trade size and scope, built-in explainability before all actions, and full auditability of all actions.   The launch comes amid continued growth across the LTX platform, with Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, TD Securities (through its subsidiary, TD Financial Products LLC), Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America recently joining as fully integrated liquidity providers. Together with more than 40 liquidity providers and 100 buy-side institutions on the platform, the expansion underscores growing industry adoption of LTX's AI-powered trading ecosystem.     The launch marks the latest milestone in LTX's AI innovation roadmap. Following the launch of BondGPT in 2023, the first generative AI application built specifically for corporate bond trading, LTX has continued to expand its AI-powered functionality. Based on client input and technological developments over the last three years, BondGPT is designed to better help market participants navigate increasingly complex and fragmented markets. LTX’s leadership in this space has already been recognized externally, with the platform winning the Markets Media Markets Choice Award for Best in AI for the last four consecutive years.    For more information, please visit www.ltxtrading.com/bondgpt.

CLS, a financial market infrastructure group delivering settlement, processing and data solutions, today announces the appointment of six new members to its Board of Directors at the CLS Annual General Meeting held on 9 June 2026. The new directors are James Hardy (Independent / Outside Director), Richard James (Deutsche Bank), Sandra Laielli van Scherpenzeel (UBS Switzerland AG), Matthieu Mercier (BNP Paribas CIB), Chadwick Renfro (Independent / Outside Director) and Boyd Winston (JPMorgan Chase Bank). James Hardy: Mr. Hardy is the former Chief Resilience Officer and Executive Vice President at State Street Corporation. Over a career spanning more than 35 years, he has held leadership roles across technology, operations, risk management, data, operational resilience and corporate governance. Mr. Hardy has also led complex operational and technology transformation initiatives across global financial markets. During more than 20 years at State Street, he held several leadership roles while also building significant board experience. Mr. Hardy also represented State Street in key industry associations, including the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), Institute of International Finance (IIF) and Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA), with a particular focus on operational and cyber resilience. Richard James: Mr. James is Managing Director, Head of FX Digital Distribution at Deutsche Bank in London. He is a senior leader within the bank’s global foreign exchange (FX) business, with extensive experience in electronic trading, market structure and strategy and responsibility for all electronic client-facing product development and distribution across FX and metals. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Mr. James co-founded Project Amber, an industry consortium promoting competition within the fixed income electronic multi-dealer platform space. He also spent 22 years at J.P. Morgan, where he held several senior leadership positions, including Global Head of Macro Digital Markets. Sandra Laielli van Scherpenzeel: Ms. Laielli van Scherpenzeel is Managing Director, Global Head of Cash Banks, Institutional and Multinational Banking at UBS Switzerland AG. Having worked at UBS for over 25 years, she has extensive experience in global cash management, FX settlement and product strategy in institutional and multinational banking. As an executive member of Institutional and Multinational Banking at UBS Switzerland AG since 2015, she has overseen Transaction Banking Cash Products, including the CLS third party offering for banks, institutional and corporate clients. Ms. Laielli van Scherpenzeel has held senior leadership positions globally at Cash Banks and Solutions developing the CLS Third Party product strategy across EMEA, APAC and the US. She serves as an active member of the European Council of the Banking Association for Finance & Trade (BAFT). Matthieu Mercier: Mr. Mercier is Managing Director, Global Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Head of Operational Resilience, and IT & Operations Chief Conduct and Control Officer at BNP Paribas CIB. Since joining the group in 2011, he has held several senior leadership roles focused on cybersecurity, operational resilience, IT risk, operational controls, physical security, data management and conduct frameworks globally. Earlier in his career, he held senior positions within Internal Audit (2014 to 2020) and led strategic transformation initiatives for BNP Paribas’ SWIFT infrastructures (2011 to 2014). Mr. Mercier also represents BNP Paribas in industry and regulatory forums related to cybersecurity and operational resilience. Chadwick Renfro: Mr. Renfro is the former CISO at Bank of America and Fidelity Investments, with more than 27 years of experience in senior management positions focusing on cybersecurity and crisis management. During his tenure at Fidelity Investments, Mr. Renfro led several significant initiatives, including the launch of its digital assets offering and the enterprise response to the COVID-19 pandemic. At Bank of America, he led a team of over 1,200 security professionals. Earlier in his career, Mr. Renfro served as an officer with the U.S. Air Force Computer Emergency Response Team (AFCERT) at the Air Force Information Warfare Center, charged with detection and response to cyberattacks on U.S. Air Force cyber assets. Boyd Winston: Mr. Winston is Managing Director, Global Head of Macro Operations and Head of EMEA Operations at JPMorgan Chase Bank, London, where he has worked since 2012. In his current role, he oversees global operations across FX and FX Services, Emerging Markets, Rates, Commodities and Fixed Income & Financing, providing end-to-end operational services to the Markets Trading and Sales division. In his role as Head of EMEA Operations, he is part of the EMEA Management Committee and is responsible for operations groups spanning International Consumer Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking and Asset & Wealth Management. Mr. Winston also represented JPMorgan Chase Bank at the Global FX Division Operations Committee of the GFMA and the Operations Sub-Committee of the Bank of England FX Joint Standing Committee (FXJSC). He previously held leadership positions including Global Head of Commodities, Currencies and Emerging Markets Operations. Prior to JPMorgan Chase Bank, Mr. Winston spent nine years at Morgan Stanley in middle and front office roles. Gottfried Leibbrandt, Chair of the Board, commented: “As settlement risk remains a key focus for the FX industry, we are pleased to welcome these new directors, whose collective expertise across financial markets, information security, cybersecurity, operational resilience, technology and risk management will bring valuable perspectives to CLS. We look forward to working with them as we continue to support the development of, and strengthen resilience across, the global FX ecosystem.” The CLS Board now comprises 21 directors in total, eight of whom are designated as outside or independent directors.

The Monitoring Group (MG) is a group of international financial institutions and regulatory bodies committed to advancing the public interest in areas related to international audit-related standard-setting and audit quality. The MG is responsible for the selection and appointment of board members to the Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB). The PIOB provides oversight of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board’s (IAASB) and the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants’ (IESBA) standard-setting process to ensure that international audit, assurance, ethics, and independence standards are responsive to the public interest, including that they are developed following a robust due process and in accordance with the Public Interest Framework. The PIOB is also responsible for appointing members to the IAASB and the IESBA. Today the MG issued an open call for applications for board members to serve on the PIOB for an initial term commencing on or before 1 January 2027. The Call for Applications: Public Interest Oversight Board Member outlines the requirements and job description of a PIOB Member and provides instructions on how to apply. The deadline for submitting applications is 31 July 2026. The selection process is designed to promote collaborative decision-making and evaluation of the collective skill set of PIOB members in accordance with the skills matrix that foster leadership, expertise, and a broad range of backgrounds and experiences. Emily Fitts, Chair of the Monitoring Group stated: “On behalf of the Monitoring Group, we are excited to announce this call for applications for PIOB members. We invite highly qualified candidates who demonstrate a firm commitment to serving the public interest to apply. The work of the PIOB is especially vital today, as the global financial ecosystem faces growing complexity and an increasing need for strong, independent oversight that strengthens trust in the public interest.”

Fime today announced its accreditation by the Digital ID & Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC)* as an official auditor under the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework™ (PCTF). The company is now the first DIACC-accredited auditor based in Quebec, strengthening local expertise for Canada’s growing digital identity ecosystem. The accreditation enables Fime to act as an independent auditor supporting fintechs, identity providers, financial institutions, governments, and global technology organizations in demonstrating compliance, interoperability, and trust under the PCTF. As digital identity adoption accelerates across payments, banking, and public services, organizations increasingly require trusted partners with expertise in digital identity testing, certification, cybersecurity, and regulatory compliance. Fime combines global experience with established delivery capabilities in Canada to meet this need. “Building a trusted digital trust and identity ecosystem requires qualified, independent assessment capabilities,” said Joni Brennan, President and CEO of DIACC. “Fime’s accreditation expands trusted expertise in Quebec and across Canada to help organizations advance secure and interoperable digital trust and identity solutions aligned with the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework.” “The availability of trusted digital identity expertise in Quebec is important for the growth of Canada’s ecosystem,” said Ghislain Nadeau of Prompt, a Quebec-based Industrial Research Consortium. “Fime’s accreditation reinforces local capabilities and supports organizations adopting secure and interoperable digital identity frameworks.” “This accreditation reflects Fime’s long-term commitment to digital trust in Canada,” said Xavier Giandominici, SVP Americas at Fime. “We are well positioned to help Canadian and international organizations navigate evolving digital identity requirements and build trusted digital services with confidence.” Learn more about Fime’s DIACC Audit services. *The Digital ID & Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC) is a non-profit coalition that brings together public and private sector leaders to advance trusted digital identity and authentication in Canada. It develops frameworks such as the Pan Canadian Trust Framework to support secure, interoperable and privacy enhancing digital services, and accredits qualified auditors to help organizations demonstrate compliance and trust.

Silverflow, the cloud-native payments processing platform, has announced a new integration with Discover® Network and Diners Club International®, enabling merchants and payment service providers to accept payments from both card networks through a single, modern API connection. The move expands global card acceptance across Silverflow’s platform and is designed to simplify access to two of the largest international card networks, particularly for merchants operating in travel, hospitality, retail and transportation sectors. Discover Network and Diners Club® are collectively accepted in more than 185 countries and territories1 and process billions of transactions annually and deliver reliable, secure, and seamless payment solutions worldwide. Through this integration, Silverflow enables acquiring banks, PSPs and commerce platforms on its system to switch on Discover Network and Diners Club acceptance more easily, without requiring traditional legacy integration work. Unlike traditional card network integrations, which typically rely on decades-old ISO 8583 messaging standards, Silverflow connects directly to card networks through a cloud-native, API-first architecture using modern JSON-based interfaces. Silverflow’s approach significantly reduces integration complexity and allows payment providers to access real-time transaction data, improve observability and optimise payment performance across their acquiring portfolios. The integration is expected to be particularly relevant for sectors with high volumes of cross-border transactions, including airlines, hotels, online travel agencies, ride-hailing platforms and urban transit operators. Anne Willem de Vries, Co-founder of Silverflow, said the integration reflects growing demand for more seamless international payment acceptance. “International commerce continues to expand and merchants are increasingly serving customers who expect to pay with the cards they already use at home,” he said. Discover Network and Diners Club help remove friction for both merchants and consumers, particularly in travel and tourism-heavy environments.” Rajiv Gupta, Vice President of International Markets Development at Discover Network noted the strategic value of the collaboration. “By integrating our global payments network into Silverflow’s platform, we are providing a more streamlined path for merchants and acquirers to reach our millions of cardholders worldwide,” Gupta said. “Our focus is on ensuring that Discover Network and Diners Club cardholders enjoy a more seamless payment experience through modern delivery channels our partners provide.” This announcement builds on Silverflow's recent Series B funding round and its strategy of expanding direct connectivity to global payment networks, replacing fragmented legacy processing systems with a single, cloud-native platform. The Discover Network integration is already live, with the Diners Club International connection to follow. To learn more, visit:  https://www.silverflow.com/ 1 Internal Discover Transaction Data, leveraging the average of transaction data from 2023-2025

Landmark contract wins with a Global Tier 1 Investment Bank, a global financial services institution and US equities exchange demonstrate the breadth of demand for Market Edge Intelligence®, the world’s first AI/ML solution for passive monitoring of capital markets data at the network edge, less than a year after its launch in August 2025. Glasgow, Scotland – 16 June 2026 - Beeks Financial Cloud Group plc (AIM: BKS), a leading provider of cloud computing and connectivity solutions for financial markets, today announces three separate contract wins, valued at a total of almost $10m, for Market Edge Intelligence®, its AI-powered analytics platform that brings real-time intelligence directly to the colocation edge. The contracts span a Global Tier 1 Investment Bank, a global financial services customer and a leading US equities exchange, together representing total contract value of approximately $10 million, demonstrating the breadth of demand for the platform across the capital markets sector. Market Edge Intelligence® launched in August 2025 and is believed to be the world’s first AI/Machine Learning solution for passive monitoring of capital markets data directly at the network edge. It transforms raw, complex market and network data into clear, actionable intelligence, enabling clients to identify issues in real time, predict problems before they impact trading performance, and surface hidden opportunities that traditional monitoring cannot detect. Contract 1: Global Tier 1 Investment Bank, $4.8 million over five years Beeks has signed a five-year contract valued at $4.8 million with one of the world’s largest banks for deployment of Market Edge Intelligence® in one area of its trading infrastructure. Revenue recognition commences immediately, further supporting the Board’s FY26 expectations. The contract was secured following a successful proof of concept and represents the first deployment of Market Edge Intelligence® at Tier 1 bank scale. The deployment provides the bank with AI-powered monitoring and observability across its trading infrastructure, with deep integration into internal systems and third-party applications. The contract has been structured to allow straightforward expansion across the bank’s wider trading operations, and Beeks believes there is significant potential for the relationship to grow over time. Contract 2: Global Financial Services Customer, £0.5 million over 34 months Beeks has signed a 34-month software contract for Beeks Analytics and Market Edge Intelligence® with an existing global financial services customer, for deployment in London. The total contract value is approximately £0.5 million, with opportunities for further expansion identified. The contract builds on an existing relationship, reflecting the strength of Beeks’ land-and-expand strategy and the natural upsell opportunity that Market Edge Intelligence® creates within the Group’s established customer base. Contract 3: US Equities Exchange, $3.0 million over five years Beeks has also secured a five-year contract valued at $3.0 million with a leading US equities exchange and an existing Beeks customer, for deployment of Beeks Analytics and Market Edge Intelligence®. The contract further strengthens Beeks’ relationship with the existing client and underlines the Group’s growing presence in the exchange venue sector, where its Exchange Cloud® platform is already deployed at a number of leading venues globally. Positive outlook The three contracts collectively demonstrate that Market Edge Intelligence® is gaining traction across the full spectrum of capital markets participants, from the world’s largest investment banks to global financial services firms and exchange venues. Each deployment addresses a distinct use case, underlining the platform’s versatility and the breadth of its addressable market. Market Edge Intelligence® can be deployed as part of Beeks Analytics, as a standalone solution, or alongside existing customer systems. This open architecture significantly expands Beeks’ addressable market and provides upsell opportunities within the Group’s existing customer base. Each of these contract wins is already generating further conversations across the capital markets sector, and the Board believes the pipeline across all three customer segments is growing. Gordon McArthur, CEO of Beeks Group, commented: “These three contract wins represent a pivotal moment for Beeks. In less than a year since launch, Market Edge Intelligence® has been validated across three of the most important segments in capital markets; a Global Tier 1 Investment Bank, a global financial services institution and a leading exchange venue. That breadth of adoption, so early in the product’s lifecycle, is a powerful endorsement of what we have built. Each of these deployments is built to grow. The bank contract covers a single area of its trading infrastructure today, with clear expansion potential across a much larger footprint. The financial services contract builds on an existing relationship. And the exchange contract deepens a partnership we have been developing over several years. Together, they reflect our evolution from a provider of world-class infrastructure to a strategic partner delivering actionable intelligence that supports performance and growth in an increasingly complex market landscape.”

Good morning, everyone – and welcome to IDX.It is great to be in London among friends.This year, IDX coincides with the world's greatest sporting event, the World Cup. Importantly, we will be showing the England and Croatia match during our IDX Gala on Wednesday to ensure you don’t miss a minute of the action.As an American, I am proud and excited that North America is hosting the World Cup this year. In fact, this weekend I am taking my kids to Kansas City to watch Ecuador take on Curacao.We Americans are finally joining the rest of the world in the passions and traditions surrounding the beautiful game. Like scarf wearing in the summer, guzzling pints of beer at halftime, and singing raunchy chants about your opponents...and their mothers. Thank you, UK football fans!Now, I want to start by recognizing Mark Bortnik of Morgan Stanley and chair of FIA's European board.As many of you know, the Kilt Challenge is one of the great traditions of this conference. Each year, we choose a prominent member of our industry to wear a kilt to the gala dinner and lead our efforts to raise funds for our industry charity – Futures for Kids.In addition to wearing the kilt on Wednesday, Mark decided to take on another small feat for charity...the Three Peaks Challenge.Now this challenge requires climbing the three highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales in less than 24 hours. That’s 23 miles of hiking and more than 10,000 feet of elevation.Last month, Mark and 19 industry colleagues completed the challenge and raised more than 70,000 pounds – and counting – for Futures for Kids. That deserves real recognition. Please join me in giving Mark and the entire team a well-earned round of applause.When I reflect on their journey, it strikes me that the challenge is more than a physical feat.It’s a metaphor for what our industry faces right now.Today’s changing markets require us to navigate steep climbs, rapid descents, uncertain terrain and volatile conditions. And the pace of this change isn't just fast, it's accelerating.Mark and his colleagues must have felt doubt in tackling their mountains, and you may also feel trepidation about the ever-changing world we live in.Like Mark, we must lean in and take on these challenges as a team. As we gather here in London, our industry faces our own Three Peaks.The first is the push toward 24/7 markets. The second is the pace of innovation. And the third is the state of European competitiveness.Peak OneLet's start with 24/7.None of us wants to lose our weekends, but it's clear that this is the direction of travel.Crypto exchanges already trade continuously, and they are rapidly expanding into conventional markets.Retail, especially young investors, have come to expect always-on markets in every aspect of their lives.But let’s not bury the lead: continuous trading is the easy part. Clearing poses the greater challenge.Our robust and resilient clearing system protects the integrity of our markets. And today, that system requires carefully choreographed margin collections that de-risk volatile markets.Currently, this de-risking cannot occur over the weekend, since the wholesale payment systems and funding markets are closed.This constrains our ability to manage the risks of around-the-clock trading.A 24/7 market without 24/7 risk management is not progress. It’s a vulnerability.So, as we climb this peak, we need to coordinate with exchanges, clearinghouses and regulators on risk controls and market protections.We need to advance new technologies – like tokenized assets – that take friction out of the payment system.And we need to advocate with central banks the need to modernize our existing payment rails.These recommendations are contained in recently published FIA reports on 24/7 markets and tokenization, and we plan to outline additional best practices in the coming months that will offer a pragmatic path to the top of this peak.If we engage as a community, we can reach this summit without jeopardizing our markets.Peak TwoNow, if the first peak is about when our markets run, the second is about how fast they evolve.Global investment in AI is now measured in the hundreds of billions of dollars and growing.Distributed ledger technology continues to drive new models of decentralized trading and settlement.And Quantum computing holds the promise to unlock vast amounts of computational power for humanity.These innovations are both breathtaking and frightening. How will markets keep up? Will traditional market structures become obsolete? We all feel this anxiety.But I’m here to tell you, this is no time to shrink from the moment. History rewards those who enter the arena.Our markets have always embraced innovation. It is in our nature. Futures and derivatives do not exist naturally in the wild; they are derived from the creative minds of entrepreneurs who put their ideas and capital behind these risk-management products.But market innovation must be responsible.Throughout time, we have heard how innovation has solved for the need for regulation in our markets – whether that’s Enron, Lehman or FTX.Different eras. Different innovations. Same pattern of hubris and destruction.We can be for innovation but also maintain healthy scepticism. In fact, the safety of our markets demands it.FIA is approaching these innovations through first principles of sound markets.We instinctively know these: Trust Fairness Integrity For example, FIA has taken the position that DeFi systems that perform the functions of exchanges need to abide by the same regulatory rules and principles of traditional trading platforms.While this technology may achieve these outcomes differently, it’s important that all markets, new or traditional, abide by these first principles of trust, fairness and integrity for the good of the system.After all, innovation and safety are not opposing forces. In strong markets, they advance together.With these well-tested principles as our guide, we can scale this mountain together with confidence.Peak ThreeWhich brings me from how we innovate to where we compete.In two public reports, respected leaders from the EU called out the competitiveness gap in Europe and set out strong recommendations for improving productivity and capital investment.In response, EU policymakers have launched an ambitious agenda to encourage greater investment, reduce red tape, and simplify the regulatory structure.FIA recently shared its views on the EU’s Market Integration Supervision Package. We strongly support its goal of making European capital markets more integrated, resilient and competitive. But policymakers must ensure these reforms truly simplify supervision rather than add duplicative layers of complexity.We need supervisory models that give EU CCPs a single point of interaction while preserving appropriate input from national authorities. We also believe ESMA should have flexible tools that enable innovation and a clear mandate to support competitiveness.I remember when the US futures markets faced a competitiveness problem in the 1990s. At that point in our industry's history, the world’s largest derivatives exchange was not located in Chicago or Hong Kong. It was in Germany, where Eurex brought better technology and electronic trading to our markets.So how did the US respond? In 2000, Congress enacted legislation that embraced a more principles-based approach to regulation, similar to the UK structure. That flexible, framework helped unleash an era of truly remarkable growth and innovation in US markets.I strongly believe a similar, more flexible approach will make the difference for Europe. At FIA, we are actively gathering views and offering suggestions to make the regulatory environment more attractive.A strong and competitive Europe is good for markets and global growth. It’s good for global stability as well. Europe has the capital, talent and infrastructure for a world-class capital market.The challenge is mobilising those strengths with a regulatory structure that evolves with the markets. It will take courage among EU policymakers, but I believe this summit is within reach.ConclusionNow, I know we will not accomplish our industry’s three peaks in 24 hours like Mark and team. But like Mark, we must overcome our doubts, develop a strategic pathway and tackle these industry mountains with determination and courage. I am confident that this industry, with its innovative spirit, can overcome these challenges.