Weekly · ECB leadership change and strict crypto oversight · October 25–31, 2026

Key points

Transition of Power at the ECB

On October 29, 2026, the European Central Bank published decisions on monetary policy and a corresponding statement, prepared by Christine Lagarde and Boris Vujčić. On the same day, it was announced that Christine Lagarde would leave her post as ECB President on February 7, 2027.

This event established a clear time horizon for institutional planning in the eurozone. The document does not disclose specific parameters of the adopted decisions regarding rates or balance sheet, but the fact of publication fixed the current policy as the baseline until the next meeting. The announcement of the President's departure date creates a precedent for managed leadership transition before the start of the next full policy cycle.

HTX's Exit from the UK Market

On October 29, 2026, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) reported obtaining court undertakings from the High Court regarding platform HTX (formerly known as Huobi). These undertakings prohibit the company from knowingly promoting crypto-asset services to consumers in the UK illegally.

The FCA and Huobi Global S.A. reached a settlement. As a result, HTX ceased activity in the British market: the platform cannot accept new users from the UK or deposits. The court undertakings cover the company's website, mobile applications, and social media. This demonstrates that financial promotion rules in the UK are capable of forcibly removing a crypto platform from the market even after prolonged reluctance to engage with the regulator.

Expansion of the OFAC Sanctions List

The US Department of Treasury, through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), updated the SDN list twice in one week. On October 26, 2026, the names of individuals added to the list were published, with all their assets and property interests under US jurisdiction blocked, and a general prohibition on US persons transacting with them.

On October 28, 2026, OFAC added several more individuals and vessels to the SDN list, identifying the vessels as property in which blocked persons have an interest. These actions create immediate obligations to block assets and prohibit transactions for all entities under US jurisdiction or interacting with it. The document does not specify whether the two publications are part of a single campaign, but it records the expansion of sanctions pressure.

Transparency and Liquidity in Switzerland

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) focused on data disclosure and methodology this week. On October 26, 2026, key monetary policy indicators were published via the data portal. On October 30, 2026, the SNB presented interim results as of September 30, 2026, as well as IMF SDDS Plus standard data.

On October 29, 2026, SNB representatives Petra Tschudin and Thomas Moser delivered a speech explaining the bank's approach to providing liquidity against sufficient collateral. They described the SNB GC Basket as the collateral standard in the Swiss interbank repo market. These publications highlight the regulator's attention to the stability of repo infrastructure and data standards.

What This Means

The events of the week indicate increased institutional certainty in eurozone monetary policy and tightened enforcement in the UK crypto sector. For those with exposure to the eurozone, fixing the date of the ECB head's departure means accounting for potential changes in rhetoric or priorities in the period leading up to February 2027; if the succession process becomes public, volatility in expectations may increase.

If your business is involved in UK-oriented crypto services, the HTX case shows that judicial mechanisms can quickly restrict market access without prior license revocation; if you operate under US jurisdiction, frequent updates to the SDN list require heightened attention to counterparties and logistics chains, as the risk of secondary sanctions grows.

It is advisable to monitor the publication of Lagarde's successor candidate: if the process drags on, uncertainty in long-term eurozone rates may persist. It is also important to track new FCA court undertakings against other crypto platforms, which signals a systematic approach to removing violators from the market.

In the Shadow of the Week

Against the backdrop of major news about the ECB and sanctions, the UK continued the technical implementation of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026. On October 26, amendments to precedents for combined mayoral authorities were issued; on October 29, amendments to local government pension scheme regulations were issued; and on October 30, fourth coming into force regulations were issued.

These local administrative acts have no direct relation to financial regulation, supervision, or market infrastructure in the context of this audience and are therefore not considered significant for decision-making in the technology and regulated financial sectors.

Our read

The period is characterized by a mixed signal on the axis of tightening versus easing: while ECB monetary policy remains stable, enforcement practices in the crypto sector and US sanctions policy demonstrate a clear trend toward tightening. On the axis of convergence versus fragmentation, there is divergence: Switzerland and the EU are strengthening internal transparency and data standards, whereas the UK and the US are acting in isolation, using their own judicial and administrative mechanisms to push out players and block assets. Enforcement intensity is growing, moving from consultations to specific court prohibitions and sanctions lists, as evidenced by the HTX case and OFAC actions. A counter-argument is the absence of new legislative initiatives in the EU, which may indicate a pause in regulatory creation in favor of enforcing current norms. The observed indicator of a trend reversal will be the publication of the ECB head's successor candidate, which may alleviate institutional uncertainty, or the absence of new FCA court prohibitions in the following month. Overall, the week showed that regulators are ready to use strict tools to protect national markets, even if it means the forced exit of major players. The signal is mixed: monetary stability coexists with growing regulatory pressure.

This digest was produced automatically by a large-language-model system from the regulator publications and official sources listed below; it is AI-generated content and may contain inaccuracies. It is not legal advice — verify wording and deadlines against the original documents.

Sources