FCA Perimeter Report 2026 Addresses Crypto, AI Payments, and Prediction Markets, UK

In March 2026, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published its FCA Perimeter Report, which sets out areas where the FCA considers legislative change is needed to expand or clarify its regulatory remit. The report is a current-state document, not a final rule. It identifies three items directly relevant to crypto-assets, AI payments, and prediction markets. All three items are at the pre-legislative stage and require action by HM Treasury or Parliament to take effect.

The Perimeter Report is published on the FCA's official website (fca.org.uk) and constitutes a regulatory statement under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and associated orders. The three relevant items rely on distinct sources of authority. First, the Cryptoassets item references the Treasury's Cryptoasset Regulated Activities Order (Crypto RAO) Statutory Instrument, made on 4 February 2026, which introduces seven new regulated cryptoasset activities. Second, the Payments item addresses planned reform of payment services legislation to accommodate tokenised payments (including stablecoins) and agentic AI-driven payment instructions. Third, the Prediction Markets item addresses binary event contracts (financial prediction market products, or PMPs) and confirms that the FCA's permanent ban on binary options sales to retail consumers — made under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 — applies to financial PMPs.

The cryptoasset activities brought within FCA oversight under the Crypto RAO include services that were previously unregulated in the UK. CASP operators, crypto exchanges, and firms dealing in stablecoins with UK client exposure must determine whether their activities fall within the seven new regulated categories. For payment services firms, the Perimeter Report puts all operators working on tokenised payment infrastructure — including stablecoin settlement rails and AI-automated payment initiation — on notice that the FCA is working with HM Treasury to modernise the Payment Services Regulations framework. UK-facing financial prediction market platforms are on direct notice that the binary options ban applies and that no retail-facing exemption is available; the FCA confirms it may do further work to clarify the perimeter following its Consumer Access to Investments Discussion Paper.

The crypto RAO SI (Crypto RAO, 4 February 2026) is effective law. The payment services reforms and prediction market clarifications remain open for FCA analysis and potential consultation. For prediction markets, the key open question is whether the FCA will create a separate regime distinguishing gambling-style PMPs from financially-oriented ones, or maintain the broad binary options ban. In January 2026, the FCA wrote to the Treasury Select Committee setting out its legislative priorities; ongoing analysis will inform whether additional perimeter items are identified during 2026.

Our firm advises on UK financial services regulation, FCA authorization, crypto-asset compliance, and AI payments structuring. We maintain a dedicated partner network for UK regulatory proceedings and welcome inquiries from crypto operators, fintech firms, and prediction market platforms with UK exposure. Our work covers FCA authorization and crypto RAO compliance, UK crypto regulatory advice, prediction market legal analysis, AI payments regulatory structuring, stablecoin compliance, and binary options regulatory matters.

Source: Financial Conduct Authority, FCA Perimeter Report (March 2026 update). Official source: https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/corporate-documents/fca-perimeter-report — confirmed April 16, 2026. Controlling authority: Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 (as amended by Crypto RAO SI, 4 February 2026); FCA permanent binary options ban (COBS).

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