With the summer drawing to a close and the final quarter of the year beckoning, the Financial Services and Markets team at Travers Smith has prepared an End of Summer Postcard to flag key regulatory priorities for Q4 2026 and beyond. 

The UK Government is making major changes to the law on late payment – including fines for businesses which fail to pay suppliers on time, a prohibition on payment periods over 60 days and a new adjudication system for certain payment disputes. These measures are likely to lead to a significantly tougher regulatory environment, particularly for larger businesses which regularly use SME suppliers.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon John Healey MP, will deliver his first Budget on Wednesday 28 October 2026.

It's now over a year since the Competition and Markets Authority gained a raft of tough new powers to enforce UK consumer law under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA). We look at the key takeaways for consumer-facing businesses from the CMA's early enforcement activity in this space.

Alongside a number of other consultations launched this summer, HMRC has opened a consultation seeking views on the administration of treaty reliefs from the UK's withholding tax on interest payments.

Split trials have become a hot topic in securities claims brought under the provisions of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. In particular, the question of when the issue of reliance should be heard in section 90A / schedule 10A cases has proved to be rather knotty, with the conclusions of judges appearing to vary from case to case.