The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency proposed changes to the Community Reinvestment Act that would focus bank examinations more on lending than deposit activities and place higher scrutiny on how banks distribute community development grants and donations. The agencies said the proposal is intended to ensure that the grants and donations "are not diverted to activist causes or consumed by excessive operating costs." The proposal includes an exemption for data collection and reporting for banks with up to $10 billion in assets, up from the current $1.65 billion threshold.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said it fined UBS Financial Services $125 million after the bank admitted to willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, marking the highest BSA penalty against a broker-dealer. FinCEN said the fine stems from a failure to adopt adequate anti-money-laundering controls, which UBS said it has strengthened since. The fine includes penalties imposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit accusing prediction markets company Kalshi of operating as an illegal gambling platform without a state license. James, who has filed similar lawsuits against Coinbase and Gemini, alleges that Kalshi encourages problem gambling and allows underage betting. Kalshi called the lawsuit "political theater," and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed an emergency motion seeking to block the enforcement of New York's gambling laws against Kalshi.

The cost of protecting tech companies' debt against default is rising as firms increase borrowing to fund artificial intelligence projects, as shown by a surge in credit default swap prices. These escalating CDS costs signal increased perceived risk and translate into higher borrowing expenses for companies, potentially reshaping corporate financing dynamics as AI investments accelerate.

Banks are increasingly using derivatives known as "crash puts" to hedge risk from leveraged exchange-traded funds, which offer the potential for double or triple the daily returns of individual stocks, Bloomberg reports. The practice has led to a surge in activity in a niche corner of the derivatives market.

The shift to electronic bond trading has accelerated considerably over the past decade, with platforms such as MarketAxess fueling the trend. In 2025, 49% of US investment-grade bond trades occurred electronically, compared with 20% in 2015, data from Crisil Coalition Greenwich shows. The coronavirus pandemic sped up this transition, as volatility prompted traders to adopt digital platforms. This trend of growth in electronic bond trading underpins Intercontinental Exchange's acquisition of MarketAxess for $6 billion.

The Texas Stock Exchange has started trading all tickers as it competes with the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. In response to TXSE's debut, NYSE and Nasdaq have expanded their operations in Texas and attracted dual listings from companies such as AT&T and Huntington Bancshares. The Dallas-based exchange, backed by investors such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Citadel Securities, has raised $275 million and received federal regulatory approval last year. Initial public offerings are planned for next year, and the exchange aims to attract companies from Florida to Texas.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority will start publishing pre-trading and post-trading data on equities in a single feed next year, and it will begin releasing an end-of-day summary of UK share trading as an interim measure. Goldman Sachs executive Ellie Beasley says the move will enhance transparency, demonstrate market liquidity and attract global investment.