Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized Issue 7 2026

21 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 FCA Publishes First Emerging Technology Horizon Scan 2026 On 10 June 2026, the FCA published its first ‘Emerging Technology Horizon Scan 2026’, which it says explores how emerging technologies could reshape financial services – and what that means for consumers, firms, and markets. The FCA explains that it wants to understand technological change to anticipate its outcomes and gain early insight on what it may mean for financial services and for the FCA as a regulator. Key findings include: • Personalised intelligence : The FCA says that artificial intelligence (AI) tools are becoming more embedded in consumers’ financial lives, which could change how people budget, save and make financial choices. This may empower people but also raises questions around autonomy, digital exclusion and harm. • Synthetic crime : Here the FCA says that synthetic media is becoming harder to tell apart from real content. AI may manipulate not only what we see and hear (for example, audio and video deepfakes) but also our capacity to discern fact from fiction. The FCA says that this could expose consumers and firms to new forms of fraud and deception. • Programmable finance: The FCA states that the underlying ‘plumbing’ of the global financial system is changing, as protocol-based infrastructure moves from pilots to national strategies – including tokenisation, smart contracts, and shared ledgers. As emerging technologies combine, the FCA says that they are changing the financial ecosystem and its participants, creating new opportunities and risks. Link to Horizon Scan 2026 here