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PS26/10 (finalised 30 June 2026) requires UK establishment, full lifecycle control by issuers, core backing assets excluding electronic money, T+1 redemption, and disclosure obligations. A joint FCA/Bank of England approach to systemic stablecoin regulation has been published, with detailed rules pending. An April 2026 draft Statutory Instrument would move stablecoin arranging/dealing into a modernised payments regime; outcome unresolved.
Two dimensions of the stablecoin regime remain unsettled even as the core issuance rules have been finalised. First, the Bank of England and FCA have published a joint approach to regulating systemic stablecoin issuers, explaining how UK stablecoin issuers may move from FCA supervision to joint regulation once recognised as systemic by HM Treasury -- but the detailed rulebook implementing that joint regime has not yet been published, and this finding rests on a comparatively thinner evidentiary base than the core PS26/10 findings. Second, and more consequentially, the UK Government published in April 2026 a draft Statutory Instrument proposing to exclude activities involving UK-issued qualifying stablecoins from arranging and dealing, moving them instead under a modernised future payments regime. This would represent a structural redirection of where UK stablecoin activity sits within the regulatory architecture, but the outcome is not yet settled, and this finding is treated as genuinely uncertain rather than a confirmed policy direction.
Outlook
The FCA/Bank of England systemic stablecoin rulebook consultation, flagged as expected 'later this year' as of the 30 June 2026 joint statement, is the next concrete milestone to watch, expected in the final quarter of 2026. Separately, and of potentially greater structural significance, the fate of the April 2026 draft Statutory Instrument on payments-regime carve-out for stablecoin arranging/dealing activity remains genuinely open -- its enactment or withdrawal would determine whether UK stablecoin distribution activity is governed by the cryptoasset regime or migrates into the payments regulatory architecture instead. Core issuance obligations (UK establishment, core backing assets, T+1 redemption, disclosure) take effect alongside the wider regime on 25 October 2027.
Stablecoin Regime
The FCA has finalised its non-systemic stablecoin-issuance regime through PS26/10 and PS26/12, though neither is yet in force. PS26/10 requires backing assets to be held 1:1 on statutory trust, with at least 5% held in on-demand deposits, and requires issuers to separately hold BLAR/ILAR liquidity buffers distinct from the backing-asset trust. PS26/12 sets the stablecoin-issuance operational-risk K-factor (K-SII) at 1% of average coins in issuance, down from the 2% level proposed during consultation — a material reduction in the capital charge issuers will face relative to what was originally proposed. Both instruments commence on 25 October 2027 alongside the wider cryptoasset regulated-activities regime; until then, existing UK stablecoin issuers continue to operate under the 2011 Electronic Money Regulations. Supervisory responsibility splits by systemic status: the FCA supervises non-systemic stablecoin issuance, while the Bank of England and FCA jointly supervise systemic stablecoins.
Outlook
The principal date to track is the 25 October 2027 commencement, which converts this finalised-but-prospective rulebook into a binding one. Firms currently issuing stablecoins under the 2011 EMR framework have roughly a year from this cycle's position to prepare for the statutory-trust backing structure and the finalised K-SII capital treatment.
3 earlier distinct update(s)
Stablecoin Regime
The UK's stablecoin regime advanced on two fronts this cycle, both dated 30 June 2026. First, the FCA published a major package of final policy statements and guidance for UK-issued qualifying stablecoins, addressing backing-asset composition, redemption rights, safeguarding of customer funds, and disclosure requirements; the authorisation gateway for stablecoin issuers opened on 30 September 2026 alongside the broader crypto-asset gateway. Second, the Bank of England and the FCA jointly published an approach paper on how the two authorities, together with other relevant bodies, will regulate systemic stablecoin issuers, including setting out when dual supervision between the Bank and the FCA applies. This joint paper signals that stablecoin issuers judged systemically significant will face oversight beyond the FCA's standard authorisation regime.
On cross-border access, a UK-US framework endorses a pathway for stablecoins authorised in one jurisdiction to access the other's market, subject to each country's own domestic law and supervisory approval; the framework is explicit that no automatic mutual recognition is granted, meaning a UK-authorised stablecoin issuer would still need to satisfy US supervisory requirements independently to access the US market, and vice versa. The stablecoin regime, like the broader crypto-licensing regime, has been enacted through final rules but is not yet fully in force, with full commencement aligned to 25 October 2027.
Outlook
The practical application of the Bank of England/FCA joint approach paper to specific stablecoin issuers seeking authorisation, and particularly which issuers are judged to meet the systemic threshold triggering dual supervision, is the key development to watch as the stablecoin-issuer authorisation process proceeds toward the 25 October 2027 commencement date.
Stablecoin Regime
The UK stablecoin regime is developing on two tracks. First, SI 2026/102 creates "issuing qualifying stablecoin" as a standalone regulated activity under the RAO, on the same enacted-but-not-yet-effective timeline as the wider cryptoasset licensing perimeter, taking force on 25 October 2027 alongside FCA conduct authorisation requirements for issuers. Second, and separately, the Banking Act 2009, as amended by FSMA 2023, gives HM Treasury a standing power to designate a stablecoin as systemic, which would bring it under Bank of England oversight in addition to ordinary FCA conduct regulation. No systemic designation has been confirmed as exercised this cycle, so this power remains a dormant but available layer of oversight above the baseline FCA authorisation track. The result is a two-tier structure in prospect: FCA conduct authorisation for all qualifying stablecoin issuers from October 2027, with an additional, so-far-unused Bank of England systemic layer available for stablecoins HM Treasury judges to pose systemic risk.
Outlook
Watch for two things: FCA rulemaking detail on the qualifying-stablecoin conduct regime as October 2027 approaches, and any first exercise of the HM Treasury systemic-designation power, which would be the first practical test of the Bank of England's oversight layer.
Stablecoin Regime
The UK stablecoin regime settled two distinct but related questions this cycle: who supervises stablecoin issuers, and what backing assets systemic issuers must hold. On supervision, the FCA regulates all UK-issued qualifying stablecoins as a baseline matter. Where a stablecoin is widely used in payments and HM Treasury designates its issuer systemic, the Bank of England and FCA jointly regulate that issuer -- a tiered structure in which most issuers sit under FCA-only oversight and only a systemic-designated subset move to joint supervision. The mechanics of how that joint supervision will actually operate in practice remain to be worked out in detail.
On backing assets, the Bank of England's June 2026 policy statement sets a 70% short-term UK government debt / 30% unremunerated BoE deposit split for systemic sterling-denominated stablecoins. This represents a move on from the position taken in the Bank's November 2025 consultation, and should be read as a finalised prudential rule rather than a live proposal still open for comment -- the policy statement sets the split, it does not propose it for further consultation. What is not yet established is when, or whether, any specific issuer will actually be designated systemic by HM Treasury and so become subject to this reserve requirement in practice; the rule exists in finalised form ahead of any confirmed systemic designation. The governing framework spans the Banking Act 2009 (as amended by FSMA 2023), FCA PS26/10, and the Bank of England's June 2026 policy statement, with the Financial Conduct Authority and Bank of England sharing supervisory responsibility for systemic issuers.
Outlook
The item to watch is HM Treasury's exercise of the systemic-designation power: until an issuer is actually designated systemic, the joint FCA/BoE supervisory structure and the 70/30 reserve split remain a finalised framework without a confirmed subject. Once a designation occurs, the operational detail of joint supervision -- currently unresolved -- will need to be tracked as it is worked out between the two regulators.
Sources and findings (6)
- T4 · CoinDeskUK stablecoin issuers — the issuer is established in the United Kingdom and manages the entire stablecoin lifecycle, from initial offering to redemption and reserve maintenanceretrieved M5bindingenacted not yet effectivenew
- T1 · FCAUK stablecoin issuers — 'core backing assets' to help ensure the stability of the value of UK-issued qualifying stablecoins; electronic money must not be held in a backing asset poolretrieved M5bindingenacted not yet effectivenew
- T1 · FCAFCA — redeem any amount of UK-issued qualifying stablecoin within T+1, intended to increase trust and confidence in UK-issued qualifying stablecoinsretrieved M5bindingenacted not yet effectivenew
- T1 · FCAPS26/10 (Stablecoin Issuance) — backing assets and safeguarding, redemption requirements, and disclosures to holdersretrieved M4bindingenacted not yet effectivenew
- T1 · FCABank of England and FCA — regulate systemic stablecoin issuers, explaining how UK stablecoin issuers may move from FCA supervision to joint regulation once recognised as systemic by HM Treasuryretrieved M5bindingproposednew
- T1 · FCAUK Government — exclude activities involving UK-issued qualifying stablecoins from arranging and dealing, moving them instead under a modernised future payments regime; outcome not yet settledretrieved M4bindingproposednew