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Specialist brief 06 · Financial Services

Regulatory and political signals across UK, EU, and international financial services.

A structured read of financial services policy developments across the UK and EU, with international context where relevant. Focus on regulatory change, political risk, and the environment around prudential, market conduct, and financial stability decisions.

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Every Sunday evening
The Financial Brief, the cover of issue 02

What arrived on Sunday.

Issue 02, sent on Sunday 27th September 2026: the headline, the bottom line, one of the week’s assessments with how likely it is, and the week ahead, quoted as sent. The full issue ran to 26 pages.

An InStone Publication
Issue 02
Sunday 27th September 2026

Financial services; distilled

UK · EU

The Treasury now presumes against licensing Iran's designated banks

The bottom line

Licence applications from Iran's five designated UK banks are now presumed for refusal, and approvals are highly unlikely. The refreshed sanctions questions and answers are likely to become the compliance floor for frozen shares and for testing how far UK rules reach overseas.

From the assessments

Licence applications from the five designated Iranian banks will be refused as the default, with approvals reserved for exceptional cases

Highly likely · 75 to 90%Confidence: Moderate

So what. Any firm holding accounts for, or transacting with, these five banks should assume refusals and design around them. Where a licensing purpose plainly applies, applications should be narrow, evidenced and ready for closer scrutiny than before.

Where things stand

Bills in Parliament

  • Financial Services and Markets Bill [HL]

    Other House

    Commons 1st reading on 15th September.

The week ahead

  • 30Sep

    How the presumption of denial is applied to the first licence applications from the five designated Iranian banks

    Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation

  • 1Oct

    Timing of the entry into force of the Iran sanctions tightening laid on 8th September

    Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

An excerpt. The full issue is a 26-page PDF: every assessment with its evidence, the outlook, the week on the record, method, caveats and a linked source for every point, sent with a short covering email.

A short email to read, a full report to keep.

  1. 01

    The bottom line: the week's judgement, before the working

  2. 02

    An assessment of each development, with how likely each outcome is

  3. 03

    Where the bills, regulations and consultations we follow now stand

  4. 04

    The week ahead: consultations, regulatory dates and decisions due

  5. 05

    A linked source for every point

Written for

Financial regulators and ministry policy staff, and NGOs working on financial conduct and consumer protection, alongside banks, fintechs and asset managers.

Recent issues covered

  • The presumption of denial for Iran's designated banks
  • The refreshed UK financial sanctions questions and answers
  • Money laundering enforcement: 500 officers and £500m
  • Companies House identity checks and the first convictions
  • Settling tokenised securities in central bank money

Often read alongside it.

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