From a stalled US open banking rule to the EU's AI Act deadline — the regulatory moves fintech teams can't ignore this year.
7 Fintech Regulations Reshaping 2026
A roundup of the fintech regulations actively in motion in 2026, spanning US open banking, bank-fintech oversight, and EU AI and payments rules.
Fintech regulation in 2026 is less about one big new law and more about several parallel tracks colliding — some accelerating deregulation, others tightening compliance. Here's what's actually moving.
01United States
Section 1033 (Open Banking Rule) — The CFPB's Personal Financial Data Rights rule was enjoined by a Kentucky federal court as likely exceeding the agency's authority; the appeal to the Sixth Circuit is stayed while the CFPB rewrites the rule, including reopening whether banks can charge fees for data access.
Executive Order 14405 — Signed May 19, 2026, "Integrating Financial Technology Innovation into Regulatory Frameworks" directs federal regulators to review rules and reduce barriers to entry for non-bank fintech firms.
Bank-Fintech Partnership Guidance — The OCC, FDIC, and Federal Reserve have tightened expectations that banks actively supervise their fintech partners, not just onboard them.
Tokenized Securities Taxonomy — The SEC issued a formal taxonomy for tokenized securities in January 2026, alongside a Federal Reserve policy statement on digital assets from December 2025.
02European Union
EU AI Act — Becomes fully enforceable for high-risk systems in August 2026; credit scoring, loan approval, fraud detection, and AML risk profiling are explicitly classified as high-risk.
FiDA (Financial Data Access) — Expands open finance beyond PSD2's payments scope to savings, insurance, and investments; still in trilogue as of April 2026, with applicability unlikely before 2029.
DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) — Applicable since January 17, 2025, covering banks, insurers, and their tech vendors, with fines of up to 2% of total annual worldwide revenue for non-compliance.
Together, these tracks point to a split regulatory picture: US policy is loosening on fintech access while tightening on partnership oversight; EU policy is layering AI, data, and operational-resilience rules on top of an already dense payments framework.
03Sources
Consumer Finance Monitor: Open Banking Regulation in 2026, Money Laundering Watch: Executive Order Signals Federal Shift, Nortal: 2026 EU Financial Services Compliance.
Frequently asked questions
Not dead, but stalled — a Kentucky federal court enjoined the CFPB's Section 1033 rule, the appeal is paused, and the CFPB is rewriting it after an August 2025 request for public comment, including reconsidering whether banks can charge fees for data access.
It applies to any AI system used to make decisions about EU consumers — so a US fintech scoring EU-based borrowers or running AML checks on EU customers falls within scope of the high-risk classification.