We should be AI optimists, says Bank of England deputy Economics A top Bank of England official has called for optimism around artificial intelligence and said leveraging the tech is the “best pathway” to securing economic growth. Sarah Breeden, deputy governor for financial stability at the central bank, said the UK needs to “think ahead” on the future use cases of AI for “how we might [...]
UK at risk of £290bn finance industry ‘being governed overseas’ Economics The UK is at risk of its booming financial services industry being governed overseas after lagging behind international rivals in digital asset innovation, a new report has warned. Banking industry body UK Finance has issued a rallying call to policymakers to move at pace in developing the infrastructure to power tokenisation, or see the country [...]
How the Treasury got ‘fed up’ with the Bank of England’s payments plan Fintech The government moved to more closely monitor the Bank of England’s overhaul of the UK’s payments system after growing frustrated with the sluggish pace of the plans, industry figures have said. The Treasury revealed last week it would begin tracking the central bank’s progress on payments and digital currencies by introducing a new secondary objective [...]
Big-spending Chelsea sign up crypto firm Circle as shirt sponsor August 28, 2026 Chelsea have tapped the crypto industry in their search for a new main sponsor by agreeing a one-year front-of-shirt deal with Circle Internet Group. The New York-listed company is best known as the issuer of stablecoin USDC, which is pegged 1:1 to the US dollar and will also appear on the shirts of Chelsea’s men’s, [...]
Barclays and Lloyds back calls to digitalise UK markets and unlock £33bn boost July 13, 2026 Top financial institutions have rallied behind a new report calling for the government to accelerate the digitalisation of UK markets to deliver a £33bn annaul boost to the economy. The paper, backed by a 54-strong taskforce that includes the likes of Barclays, JP Morgan and Lloyds Banking Group, says the tokenisation of markets could add [...]
Bank of England’s Breeden: Digital gilt will bring down borrowing costs May 20, 2026 The Bank of England’s plans to help launch a digital gilt will make Britain’s sovereign debt more appealing to a wider pool of investors and help bring down government borrowing costs, its deputy governor has said. Speaking to City AM at the City Week conference, Sarah Breeden hailed the central bank’s efforts to help the [...]
A grassroots crypto campaign just forced its way into the House of Lords. Now it wants to reshape British banking March 25, 2026 When Stand With Crypto UK launched a petition calling for a national stablecoin strategy six months ago, few expected it to end up in the corridors of Westminster, but as the petition closed with almost 85,000 signatures it had already more than achieved the petitioners’ aims. Stand With Crypto UK, a grassroots organisation, can now [...]
Bank of England’s Breeden warns on rivals overtaking UK on innovation February 2, 2026 The Bank of England’s lead for fintech policy and digital currency has laid out a sweeping vision for the UK’s next generation of payments infrastructure amid a rallying cry for the UK to not lag behind its peers. Sarah Breeden, a rate-setter at the central bank and the deputy governor for financial stability, said the [...]
Crypto firms face clamp down from Treasury and watchdog December 15, 2025 Cryptocurrencies will face regulation like any other financial products under new laws announced by the Treasury. Firms that offer crypto products will fall under the Financial Conduct Authority’s jurisdiction as part of new rules requiring digital assets providers to meet a set of standards from the City watchdog. The Labour government said the new legislation, which comes into [...]
Bank of England relaxes stablecoin stance in ‘watershed’ rules change November 10, 2025 The Bank of England has relaxed its stance on stablecoin in a new consultation paper aimed at helping Britain grab a slice of the £200bn market. The central Bank has previously faced calls to “publicly walk back” on its position on digital assets over fears the UK was missing out on the market. But in [...]