The year ahead in financial services: 12 trends to watch in 2026

2025 was another transformative year for the financial services industry. Geopolitical risks arising from conflicts in Ukraine and elsewhere were compounded by new fissures in the world order. The international paradigm of cooperation and harmonisation was shaken by a shift towards aggressive tariff policies, regulatory competition and unilateralism. An increasingly bold Trump administration challenged the consensus on issues ranging from climate change to capital requirements for banks. Governments across the world are recalibrating their attitudes towards risk in order to get their economies growing again. Meanwhile, digital assets and tokenisation are on the rise, and the advance of AI is impacting every aspect of the way in which financial institutions do business.

We expect these trends to accelerate in the year ahead, creating opportunities as well as risks for the sector. The emergence of new technologies will drive increased investment in fintech as well as more M&A activity. It will also raise new concerns around operational resilience and cyber security. The growth of private credit is attracting interest from both borrowers and investors, as well as regulators trying to understand the impact on financial stability. The increasing participation of retail investors in private markets is opening up new sources of funding, while at the same time presenting new compliance challenges for private asset managers. In order to succeed in this dynamic environment, firms need to be nimble - capable of not only responding to the challenges of geopolitical risk, technological transformation and regulatory change, but turning them into an advantage.            

In our briefing, we examine 12 of the most important trends in financial services, to help you navigate the year ahead.

The 12 trends covered are:

1. Geopolitical risks
2. Deregulation and simplified/proportionate regulation
3. Retailisation
4. Private credit
5. Cybersecurity and operational resilience
6. Digital assets and tokenisation
7. FIG M&A
8. AI
9. ESG and sustainable finance
10. Market misconduct
11. Fraud
12. AML and sanctions

Please contact your usual Freshfields contact if you would like to arrange a discussion on any of these topics.