Three shifts US financial firms should be planning around
May reset the US regulatory debate. Two Executive Orders, a Federal Reserve proposal, and a lawsuit all landed inside a few weeks, and together they point to three shifts that will shape how regulated firms plan the rest of 2026.
The first is that conduct rules are moving from Washington to the states. The CFPB's Regulation B overhaul stripped out disparate-impact liability and narrowed fair-lending obligations, but within weeks a coalition had sued, New York confirmed disparate-impact still applies in full under state law, and California's new agency, now run by former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, signalled tougher enforcement. If you operate across states, your highest-bar state sets the floor.
The second is that the payments perimeter is opening to non-banks. Two Executive Orders told regulators to clear barriers for non-bank innovators, and the Fed followed with a Payment Account proposal that would let eligible non-banks settle directly on its rails. That kind of direct access hasn't been available before, though the limits on pre-funded balances, no interest, and no discount-window access change the economics you'll want to model.
The third is that burdens are coming off at home while they go on abroad. The SEC moved to rescind its climate-disclosure rules and to drop SOX 404(b) attestation for most public companies, and the Basel Endgame re-proposal eased capital. The EU's CSRD, CSDDD, and ESG Ratings Regulation keep advancing regardless, so any firm with European exposure should think twice before optimising to the lighter US regime.
The full May 2026 US brief works through all of this in detail, with what each change means for your firm and the comment deadlines you can still act on.
Read the May 2026 US Regulatory Horizon Scanning brief, or book a demo to see how Adclear keeps compliance and marketing teams ahead of the regulatory cycle.
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