Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized Issue 7 2026

13 AI CRYPTOASSETS CYBER DORA IOSCO MONEY MARKET FUNDS SUSTAINABLE FINANCE/ESG ASIA PACIFIC AUSTRALIA EUROPE IRELAND LUXEMBOURG NORTH AMERICA UNITED KINGDOM Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized | Issue 7 | 2026 Quick Links AUSTRALIA ASIC Pushes for Coordinated Action to Strengthen Competitiveness of Australian Markets On 30 June 2026, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced it was gathering market and financial services leaders in a push to bolster competitiveness in Australia’s capital markets, after it said that new research finds Australia needs to move quickly or be left behind as other jurisdictions adopt financial market innovation at speed. On the same day, ASIC explains that the ‘Innovation in Financial Markets and Financial Market Infrastructure’ report (REP 835), which was prepared by the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) for ASIC, shows financial markets are increasingly becoming more automated, compressing settlement cycles and enabling extended hours in traditional markets, supported by technology developments. Against the backdrop of accelerating globalisation of capital flows and offerings, ASIC says that this innovation is enabling newmarket models and blurring lines between digital-first and established financial services players and raises new implications for capital markets as agentic AI and machine-speed, autonomous trading, and supervision tools enter the hands of traders, market participants, and market operators. ASIC says that the report also shows how standards bodies, governments and regulators across major jurisdictions are reshaping market frameworks to accommodate developments in distributed ledger technologies (DLT), tokenised assets, AI, and enhancements to information technology systems, increasing pressure on Australia to keep pace. ASIC says that these shifts create opportunities to: • Improve capital and operational efficiencies through modernised market infrastructure, automated market surveillance methods, ongoing public-private collaboration and regular global cross-regulator coordination; • Give firms clear and accessible pathways to test and operationalise new products with constructive regulatory support; and • Enhance competitiveness by supporting responsible innovation while protecting investors. However, ASIC says that some of these developments could introduce pockets of heightened concentration risk at a business- and economic-level through the use of external service providers and could also amplify retail risks in gamified and social trading. ASIC adds that maintaining resilience standards in the era of Frontier AI and rising cyber risk is also critical. ASIC says that it will release a summary of the themes and practical actions from the roundtable and that discussions will be focused on what ASIC can and should do about the priority opportunities that innovation for safe growth offers. Link to REP 835 here EUROPE ESMA 2025 Annual Report: Focus on Stronger Supervision, Regulatory Simplification, and Innovation On 17 June 2026, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its Annual Report for 2025, highlighting a year of progress in strengthening the EU’s financial markets through enhanced supervision, regulatory simplification and innovation. Set against a backdrop of heightened global uncertainty and ongoing discussions on the Savings and Investments Union (SIU), ESMA says that the report illustrates its continued contribution to orderly, resilient and attractive EU capital markets. Regulatory delivery and newmandates in action In 2025, ESMA says that it played a key role in implementingmajor EU legislative frameworks, including the MiCA, the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), and the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR 3). The work supported supervisory convergence, advanced the authorisation of crypto-asset service providers, and strengthened digital resilience across the financial sector. ESMA says that it has also helped enhancing the supervision of clearing infrastructures, including the recognition and risk assessment of third-country central counterparties.