IOSCO/MR/01/2026 – Madrid, 9 February 2026
IOSCO published today it’s 2026 Work Program.
Building on its 2025 Work Program, IOSCO will keep its focus on strengthening capital markets. IOSCO’s key strategic priorities for 2026 are: (i) Strengthening Financial Resilience and Market Effectiveness, (ii) Protecting investors, (iii) The evolution of Public and Private Markets; (iv) Technological transformation, and (v) Promoting regulatory cooperation and effectiveness.
While the work programme showcases IOSCO’s initiatives, IOSCO remains committed to close collaboration with other international organizations and standard setters such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Bank and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) to address emerging risks and shared global challenges, promote greater alignment in regulatory approaches, and support initiatives related to capital markets development.
Overview of IOSCO’s 2026 Work Program
1. Strengthening Financial Resilience and Market Effectiveness
Ensuring the resilience of the global financial system remains a key pillar of IOSCO’s mandate. IOSCO will finalize several ongoing work streams, including:
- Its review of the IOSCO Principles for the Valuation of Collective Investment Schemes.
- Its review of the IOSCO Principles and Standards for Disclosures in Secondary markets.
- Its targeted implementation review of the IOSCO Commodity Derivatives Principles,
New key initiatives in this field for 2026 include:
- Seeking to address issues related to over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives reporting fragmentation.
- Work on the impact of market microstructures on liquidity and of extended trading hours on equity trading venues.
- Contributing to FSB’s work on issues of non-bank data availability, use and quality.
- Contributing, as necessary, to follow-up work on the issue of leverage in non-bank financial intermediation (NBFI).
IOSCO will continue to develop work to strengthen the operational resilience of Financial Market Infrastructures (FMIs) through the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI)-IOSCO Operational Resilience Group. This work both considers whether there are gaps in the effectiveness of FMIs’ management of third-party risks and how to address potential gaps in FMI’s cyber resilience.
2. Protecting Investors
IOSCO will further strengthen its efforts in investor education by launching its first TechSprint, in partnership with the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s AI Lab. This initiative aims to leverage technology to develop educational resources that empower retail investors to navigate the novel products available to them, understand the risks and opportunities associated, and identify scams.
IOSCO will also explore these novel products, such as crypto-asset funds, private credit vehicles and retail-facing derivatives, which offer greater choice to investors but may also introduce new risks.
IOSCO will continue to engage with platform providers such as social media companies, search engines and internet providers to advocate for the restriction and monitoring of harmful or fraudulent content, and to promote the use of I-SCAN – its Enhanced Investor Alerts Portal. This new system offers a global real-time database of supervisory alerts on unauthorised firms and known scams to improve the protection of clients and investors and fight financial fraud.
3. The Evolution of Public and Private Markets
Capital markets are evolving, with a significant decline in public debt and equity issuance, and a rise in trading fragmentation and growth in private markets, introducing new complexities.
Key initiatives in this field include:
- An exploration of the growing interconnectedness between private equity activities and the audit sector.
- Contribution to the FSB’s deep dive on private credit.
- Research work on the functioning of public markets.
4. Technological transformation
The adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the intersection of digital assets with traditional finance and the rise of tokenization all present significant opportunities for financial markets and their investors but they can also present risks.
In 2026, IOSCO will advance its crypto-asset roadmap by finalizing a formal methodology for crypto and digital assets assessments, initiate regular thematic reviews, and continue to monitor developments arising from financial technology adoption.
IOSCO will also develop a supervisory tool kit on AI and guidance for firms on disclosures and governance in relation to AI and will focus on Supervisory Technology (SupTech), after the recent creation of a dedicated collaborative forum for members to share knowledge on how technology and in particular AI-powered tools can boost the efficiency of supervision and enforcement.
5. Promoting Regulatory Cooperation and Effectiveness
Promoting regulatory cooperation and effectiveness remains a key strategic priority of IOSCO. A key priority will be to assist members from emerging markets to build sound and robust capital markets, through enhanced capacity building, strengthened partnerships with international financial institutions, and direct assistance in addressing identified challenges.
Regulatory cooperation remains central to the effective delivery of these priorities. In particular, the IOSCO Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MMoU), with 131 signatories, is the global gold standard for international enforcement cooperation for financial markets.
IOSCO will continue to support MMoU signatories, including by encouraging them to upgrade to the Enhanced MMoU (EMMoU) and by conducting training and reviews. IOSCO will also continue to support non-signatories in meeting the requirements for adoption, ensuring that the global safety net against misconduct remains tight.
IOSCO will continue its regular reviews, promoting the consistent application of securities regulation worldwide.
IOSCO will also continue to deliver tailored capacity-building initiatives as part of the NEXTGEN program. In that context, a new dedicated e-learning platform will be developed during 2026 to expand the reach and value of this key part of IOSCO’s mission.
See Also:
IOSCO publishes Consultation Report on Valuing Collective Investment Schemes | Disruption Banking
IOSCO publishes Final Report on Neo-Brokers | Disruption Banking
