Bearish (UK/EU Compliance Margins): The UK FCA’s April multi-firm thematic review establishes firm supervisory expectations for strictly independent, third-line AML audits. Concurrently, the EBA’s newly harmonised SEPA mandates will trigger an unbudgeted spike in compliance data reporting overhead for fiat gateways. Bullish (APAC Institutional Revenue): Japan’s cabinet officially approved a draft bill reclassifying crypto assets as financial products. While introducing seve

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The regulatory landscape for the week ending 23 January 2026 indicates a definitive fracturing of global operating models. The era of a single, unified global platform serving all jurisdictions via offshore licenses is functionally over. UK (Bearish): The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has effectively closed the “reverse solicitation” window. New proposals force a binary strategic choice for Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs): capitalise a full UK