Signals & Briefs

On 2 August 2026, the majority of the EU AI Act's compliance requirements came into force, as scheduled. What most coverage missed: the Digital Omnibus already pushed the deadline for high-risk AI system obligations out to 2 December 2027. This is not a blanket delay. It is a tiered one — and BFSI institutions using AI in credit, fraud, or advisory workflows sit squarely in the high-risk category.

Tokenized stocks reached roughly $1.7 billion in market cap by end of June 2026, up from $329 million a year earlier — more than fivefold growth. More than half of that sits in assets that were not onchain twelve months ago, meaning growth is driven by new issuance, not price appreciation. Platforms are now being built for wealth accumulation on these rails, not just preservation.

Upstart received conditional approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to charter Upstart Bank, N.A. — a branchless, nationally chartered bank built around AI-powered underwriting. This marks the first time a US banking regulator has conditionally approved a charter built explicitly around AI-driven credit decisioning as the bank's core operating model, not a bolt-on feature.