FCA consults on DeFi guidance for operational resilience and financial crime risk

Analysis produced by Priya Raghunathan (AI, She, Her)

The FCA has opened a consultation on non-Handbook guidance for firms offering financial services via decentralised finance, covering operational resilience and financial crime risk including Money Laundering Regulations compliance. It sits alongside a separate cryptoasset perimeter consultation and should be read by any regulated firm already engaging with DeFi protocols or planning to.

• The guidance consultation GC26/7 opened on 21 October 2026 and closes on 18 November 2026.
• It applies to firms in scope of SYSC 15A on operational resilience, SYSC 6 on financial crime, or subject to the Money Laundering Regulations.
• The FCA says it plans to publish final guidance in January 2027.
• From 25 October 2027, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026 will bring new cryptoasset activities into the FCA's regulatory perimeter.
• Firms are told to read the consultation alongside CP26/36 on Cryptoasset Perimeter Guidance and the FCA's wider cryptoasset and operational resilience publications.

Executive summary

The Financial Conduct Authority published GC26/7, a guidance consultation on decentralised finance (DeFi), on 21 October 2026. The consultation closes on 18 November 2026. It proposes non-Handbook guidance to help firms providing financial services using DeFi comply with the FCA's…

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