FCA publishes open finance roadmap with 2030 target and investment data in scope

The UK regulator has provided its clearest signal yet of how it will regulate open finance, publishing a phased plan to extend open banking principles to investments, pensions and insurance.

The FCA’s open finance vision, published today, moves the UK beyond the payments-account perimeter that has defined open banking since 2018. The roadmap targets 2030 for full implementation and explicitly brings investment platforms into scope, alongside pensions and general insurance. This is not a consultation on whether to proceed — it is a plan for how.

The practical significance is in the sequencing. By naming investment apps early in the rollout, the FCA is prioritising a sector where consumer demand for aggregation and portability is already strong. Finance Magnates notes that Mastercard and Saxo Bank already operate an open banking funding flow for investment accounts in Denmark, suggesting the infrastructure for cross-product data sharing is closer to production-ready than many assume.

For firms operating in UK open banking, this changes the planning horizon. The scope expansion means new API standards, new data categories and — critically — new consent and liability frameworks that will need to be built out well before 2030. Banks and wealth platforms that have treated open finance as a distant prospect now have a regulatory timeline to work against.

Editorial note: This is the most consequential UK regulatory development in open banking for some time, establishing a concrete scope and timeline for open finance and directly affecting product strategy across banking, wealth and insurance.

Sources: FCA sets out vision for open finance to empower consumers and businesses — FCA | FCA Pulls Investment Apps Into Open Finance Net With 2030 Roadmap — Finance Magnates

Wise to move primary listing from London to the US

The cross-border payments firm’s decision to leave the LSE for a US primary listing is the latest in a pattern of fintechs concluding that London cannot deliver the valuation or liquidity they need.

Wise confirmed plans to shift its primary listing to the US next month, following a Q4 that showed strong growth in volumes, customers and income. The company has been dual-listed since its 2021 London IPO but has increasingly tilted towards the US, where most comparable payments firms trade.

The move is significant less for what it says about Wise, which has been telegraphing this for months, than for what it says about London as a listing venue for payments and fintech companies. Wise joins a growing list of technology-oriented firms that have concluded the LSE cannot match US markets on analyst coverage, investor base or valuation multiples. For the UK’s ambitions as a fintech hub, each departure makes the next one easier to justify.

The timing is notable. The FCA published its open finance roadmap on the same day, a reminder that the UK continues to lead on regulatory framework design even as it struggles to retain the companies that would commercialise those frameworks.

Editorial note: Wise’s relisting is a structural story about the competitiveness of European capital markets for payments firms, relevant to any executive thinking about where to build, list or raise capital.

Sources: Wise to shift primary listing to US next month — Finextra

EBA moves to harmonise SEPA reporting across national regulators

The European Banking Authority has published a decision standardising how national authorities report under the SEPA Regulation – a technical but necessary step towards consistent payments oversight across the eurozone.

The EBA’s decision addresses a long-standing fragmentation problem: national competent authorities have reported SEPA compliance data using inconsistent formats and timelines, making it difficult to build a coherent picture of how the single payments area actually functions in practice. The new framework imposes a common reporting structure.

This is plumbing, not policy, but it matters. Harmonised reporting is a prerequisite for the kind of cross-border supervisory coordination that the instant payments regulation will demand as it takes effect. It also gives the EBA better data to identify where SEPA implementation is lagging or where scheme rules are being applied inconsistently, both of which have been persistent irritants for payments firms operating across multiple eurozone markets.

Editorial note: Quiet infrastructure decisions like this often have more practical impact on cross-border payments operations than headline-grabbing regulation. This one directly affects compliance and reporting obligations.

Sources: EBA sets out plans to harmonise Sepa reporting — Finextra