Radar archive — June 2026
FCA sets the UK's first comprehensive cryptoasset rulebook
The FCA published five policy statements and finalised guidance establishing the UK's full regulated cryptoasset regime, covering trading platforms, custodians, intermediaries, stablecoin issuers and staking, alongside a dedicated prudential regime (COREPRU and CRYPTOPRU) with capital and stress-testing requirements. Firms face admission, disclosure and market-abuse rules and must meet Consumer Duty standards. The application window opens 30 September 2026 and the regime takes full effect from 25 October 2027.
Implications for capital — Cryptoasset activity touching UK clients moves inside the authorisation perimeter, with capital, custody-segregation and disclosure obligations that determine which entities can hold or move digital assets in or through the UK.
Source: Financial Conduct Authority
Israel drafts its first licensing regime for stablecoins
The Ministry of Finance and the Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Authority published a draft bill (tazkir) that would, for the first time in Israel, require licensing and ongoing supervision of issuers of shekel- or dollar-pegged stablecoins. Prepared under Government Resolution 204 and shaped around the US GENIUS Act and the EU's MiCA, the framework would also reach foreign issuers targeting Israeli users. The text was opened for public comment.
Implications for capital — Stablecoin issuers serving Israeli users would fall under a dedicated Capital Market Authority licence rather than the general crypto-service framework. The measure is a draft and is not yet law.
Source: Ministry of Finance and Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Authority (gov.il)
Belgium ends the MiCA transition for crypto-asset service providers
The FSMA confirmed that the MiCA transitional period ends on 30 June 2026; from 1 July 2026 crypto-asset service providers must hold a CASP authorisation to operate in the EU. The FSMA noted that, as at the announcement, no provider yet held an authorisation granted by it in Belgium.
Implications for capital — Unauthorised providers must cease Belgian and EU operations, concentrating crypto services among licensed entities and affecting where digital-asset custody and dealing can be sourced.
EU proposes to abolish withholding tax on intra-EU dividends, interest and royalties
On 24 June 2026 the European Commission adopted a tax simplification package — a direct taxation Omnibus and a recast of the Directive on Administrative Cooperation — proposing to eliminate withholding taxes on cross-border dividend, interest and royalty payments between EU companies, extend the Parent-Subsidiary Directive to pension institutions, broaden tax-neutral restructuring, ease interest-limitation rules and cut reporting overlaps.
Implications for capital — If adopted, materially reduces tax leakage and friction in intra-EU holding and financing structures and trims Pillar Two and DAC reporting duplication.
Source: European Commission (DG TAXUD)
KNF signals the end of Poland's crypto transition period
In a June 2026 notice, the KNF set out the consequences of the MiCA transitional period ending on 1 July 2026 for providers that had operated under national law before 30 December 2024. It relayed ESMA's expectations that unauthorised providers wind down operations with investor protection in mind, and reiterated that entry in Poland's virtual-currency register is not a MiCA authorisation and would not permit continued activity after the deadline.
Implications for capital — Firms relying on the legacy Polish virtual-currency register lose their legal basis to provide crypto-asset services once the transition lapses, forcing relocation, wind-down, or licensing in another member state.
ESMA orders unauthorised crypto providers to wind down as MiCA transition ends
In a 23 June 2026 statement ESMA set out that crypto-asset service providers without a MiCA licence must cease EU activity from 1 July 2026 — halting new client onboarding and marketing and limiting remaining services to an orderly wind-down that safeguards client assets. Third-country firms cannot provide or solicit MiCA services to EU clients.
Implications for capital — Confirms that lawful EU access to crypto services now requires MiCA authorisation, consolidating where digital-asset custody and dealing can be conducted for EU clients.
Source: ESMA
Denmark widens tax-deferred employee ownership for startups and SMEs
From 1 July 2026 a ministerial order under the Entrepreneur Package lets qualifying unlisted companies — up to 10 years old, with at most 150 employees and up to DKK 200m in turnover or balance sheet — grant employees earning at least DKK 265,300 an unlimited volume of shares, warrants and options with taxation deferred until the shares are sold. The step implements lov nr. 1781 of 29 December 2025 and removes the previous ceiling on tax-advantaged employee equity for these firms.
Implications for capital — Founders and early investors in Danish growth companies gain a more flexible instrument for aligning employee and shareholder interests without triggering tax before a realisation event.
FATF consults on payment transparency and updates virtual-asset work
The June 2026 plenary approved a public consultation on guidance to implement the strengthened Recommendation 16 on cross-border payment transparency, alongside a seventh targeted update on virtual-asset and VASP supervision and a new report examining DeFi regulatory challenges.
Implications for capital — Foreshadows more granular originator and beneficiary data requirements on cross-border payments and continued convergence in how virtual-asset and DeFi activity is monitored.
Source: FATF
FATF grey list: Bosnia and Iraq added, Algeria and Namibia removed
At its June 2026 plenary in Paris the FATF added Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iraq to its list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring and removed Algeria and Namibia after on-site verification of their reforms. The plenary also updated Recommendation 6 to incorporate a humanitarian exemption.
Implications for capital — Redraws the due-diligence map for cross-border capital — heightened scrutiny for newly listed jurisdictions and reduced friction for those delisted.
Source: FATF
Global Forum tightens monitoring of beneficial-ownership transparency
A 19 June 2026 Global Forum report on enhanced monitoring of exchange-of-information standards across 39 jurisdictions found centralised beneficial-ownership registers becoming more common but availability, verification and accounting-record access still uneven. Jurisdictions lagging on corrective actions were asked to file action plans and report annually.
Implications for capital — Signals sustained pressure to maintain accurate, verified beneficial-ownership records, narrowing the gap between nominal and effective transparency for cross-border structures.
Source: OECD Global Forum
Vienna's double budget lifts corporate tax on large profits and prolongs the bank levy
The government's Budgetbegleitgesetz 2027-2028, presented in June 2026 alongside a two-year budget, reintroduces a higher corporate income tax band: profit shares above EUR 1 million would again bear 24 percent from 2028, against the 23 percent standard rate. The package also extends the banking levy and introduces a new parcel tax among dozens of other measures, and was set for a Nationalrat vote on 8 July.
Implications for capital — Corporate and holding vehicles booking Austrian profits above EUR 1 million face a higher marginal rate from 2028, and the banking sector's special levy continues rather than lapsing.
Hong Kong tables sweeping upgrade to fund and family-office tax regimes
The Government gazetted on 12 June 2026 the Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill widening the tax concessions for privately offered funds, family-owned investment holding vehicles run by eligible single family offices, and carried interest. The Bill broadens the definition of 'fund' and the scope of qualifying investments, removes the 5% cap on incidental transactions, and relaxes exemption treatment for special purpose entities. It also introduces tax-reporting and economic-substance requirements under the unified funds regime.
Implications for capital — The measures enlarge the range of assets and structures that can sit tax-advantaged in Hong Kong, while attaching substance and reporting conditions to that treatment. Fund and family-office vehicles gain scope but assume new compliance obligations.
Source: Government of the HKSAR (Information Services Department)
Singapore streamlines its single family office regime
From 15 June 2026 MAS operates a structure-agnostic class exemption from fund-management licensing for qualifying single family offices. Eligible SFOs need only notify MAS, hold an account with a MAS-regulated bank, and file a short annual return stating assets under management and their bank. Existing SFOs have until 15 June 2027 to comply.
Implications for capital — The regime lowers the administrative barrier to housing family wealth in Singapore while placing every SFO within a defined notification and banking perimeter. Reporting of AUM and banking relationships becomes a standing obligation rather than a one-off setup step.
Hong Kong sets a course to draw corporate treasury centres
On 9 June 2026 the Government unveiled an Action Plan to promote corporate treasury centres, jointly formulated by the FSTB, IRD, HKMA and InvestHK around a 'tax revamp, tax agreements, targeted promotion and talent' framework. It commits to a tiered tax-concession system with a pre-approval mechanism, alongside expansion of double-taxation agreements. Public consultation is planned for 2026 with legislative proposals targeted for the first half of 2027.
Implications for capital — The plan signals where multinational groups may centralise fund management, asset allocation and risk functions, and how that treasury activity would be taxed. The concrete concession terms remain contingent on consultation and later legislation.
Source: Government of the HKSAR (Information Services Department)
Turkey widens Istanbul Finance Centre breaks and adds a returning-resident exemption
Law No. 7582, published in the Official Gazette on 4 June 2026, extends Istanbul Finance Centre tax advantages from 2031 to 2047 and lengthens the related exemption period from five to twenty years. It introduces a 'qualified service center' model for internationally-oriented companies earning at least 80% of turnover from abroad, a new exemption for the foreign-source income of individuals establishing Turkish residence, and a 1% rate on inheritance transfers made under the scheme.
Implications for capital — The package broadens Turkey's incentives for relocating regional headquarters, financial activity and globally mobile individuals through the Istanbul Finance Centre.
Source: T.C. Resmî Gazete (Official Gazette of the Republic of Türkiye)