2025 brings several key compliance deadlines and industry events. Financial professionals can stay one step ahead with this guide.
Planning for bank holidays: BACS processing in 2025
With several bank holidays occurring throughout the year, careful planning of Bacs processing is important to ensure prompt payments and collections. The Easter period in particular requires careful planning. Gavin Lawrence, leading BACS consultants at Movimo, comments: “There is an increased risk of taking direct debit payments early or late over Easter and Christmas bank holidays each year. Are you prepared for the next bank holiday?“
For Easter 2025, the important processing dates to remember are as follows:
Date you want to receive Direct Debits | Latest submission date of transactions to Bacs |
| Thursday 17 April | Tuesday 15 April |
| Tuesday 22 April | Wednesday 16 April |
| Wednesday 23 April | Thursday 17 April |
| Thursday 24 April | Tuesday 22 April |
Key BACS processing tips
- Direct Debits due on Bank Holidays should be collected the day after, not the day before
- Submissions can be made up to 30 calendar days in advance
- Always verify submitted files on the Payment Services website
>> Read Movimo’s full Bacs Processing calendar for easter and May bank holidays.
2025 compliance & industry events calendar
Our 2025 Finance Trends Report discovered that 42% of financial leaders rank regulatory risk and compliance as a key priority. Staying informed about upcoming regulatory changes is critical to making strategic decisions.
2025 Compliance & Industry Events Calendar
Date | Event | Description |
| January 1, 2025 Implemented | Basel III Implementation | Full implementation of Basel III standards to strengthen bank capital requirements |
| January 17, 2025 Implemented
| DORA Effective Date | Digital Operational Resilience Act comes into force for the European financial sector |
| March 10, 2025 Implemented
| Fedwire ISO 20022 | Fedwire Funds Service implements ISO 20022 in a single-day strategy |
| March 31, 2025 Implemented
| SYSC Framework Deadline | Critical deadline for firms to fully implement their operational resilience framework |
| April 28 – May 2, 2025 | UK FinTech Week 2025 | Week-long event including the flagship IFGS conference, bringing together fintech founders, investors, regulators, and policymakers |
| May 1, 2025 | CHAPS Requirements | Mandatory use of LEIs and Purpose Codes for CHAPS payments |
| June 2025 | EBA Day 2025 | Annual conference on payments and transaction banking (exact date TBC) |
| July 1, 2025 | AMLA Implementation | Anti-Money Laundering Authority implementation date |
| September 1, 2025 | Fraud Prevention Legislation | Failure to Prevent Fraud Offence takes effect |
| September 5, 2025 | World Finance Forum | Conference focusing on finance transformation, AI, FP&A, and strategic leadership |
| September 29 – October 2, 2025 | Sibos 2025 | Premier global financial services conference organized by SWIFT at Messe Frankfurt, Germany |
| October 2025 | FinTech Connect | Trade show exploring digital innovation and AI in payments and digital assets |
| November 2025 | CBP+ ISO 20022 Deadline | Global Cross-Border Payments Adoption Deadline- SWIFT CBP+ co-existence period ends |
| November 5, 2025 | CFO London Summit | Conference covering ESG reporting, AI in finance functions, and strategic leadership |
| Throughout 2025 | Ongoing ISO 20022 Integration | Financial institutions and their clients should be prepared for ongoing adoption and integration of ISO 20022 standards |
| End of Q2 2025 | NPV Development | Bank of England and Payment Systems Regulator to set out approach for Faster Payments System upgrades |
Major regulatory changes: A need-to-know
The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA)
What is it? The Digital Operational Resilience Act establishes a framework for digital operational resilience in the European financial sector. It aims to ensure that financial entities have the ability to withstand, respond to, and recover from any type of ICT-related disruption or threat.
Strategic Implications: Organisations should have robust ICT risk management frameworks in place, conduct testing on a regular basis, and have reporting mechanisms for incidents. This is a chance to strengthen digital infrastructure to achieve compliance.
The SYSC Framework for Operational Resilience
What is it? The Senior Management Arrangements, Systems and Controls (SYSC) Framework establishes governance and risk management expectations for financial industry firms, facilitating senior management ownership of sound systems and controls.
Strategic Implications: This framework mandates top-down risk management and operational resilience. Companies should use this as an opportunity to revise governance arrangements and enhance decision-making processes for operational risk.
ISO 20022: The New Standard for Financial Messaging
What is it? ISO 20022 is revolutionising financial messaging by developing a common language for financial institutions worldwide. It enables richer and more structured data exchange compared to conventional formats.
Strategic Implications: The transition to ISO 20022 will improve payment efficiency, reconciliation, and analytics data. It does, however, require significant system upgrades and process changes, particularly for CHAPS payments from May 1, 2025, that will require enriched data like Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs).
Failure to Prevent Fraud Offence
What is it? This new legislation introduces stricter provisions for combating financial fraud, including enhanced customer verification processes and corporate liability.
Strategic Implications: Financial institutions must strengthen their fraud prevention mechanisms, have more robust customer verification processes, and have clear lines of accountability for fraud prevention.
Preparing your organisation
Forward-looking financial institutions are already taking steps to prepare for these regulatory changes:- Conducting gap analyses in relation to new regulatory requirements
- Investment in technological infrastructure to enable operational resilience
- Governance framework review to provide clear responsibilities
- Training staff on new compliance requirements
- Exploring automation solutions to streamline compliance processes
Key industry events worth attending
- UK FinTech Week (April 28 – May 2, 2025): Network with innovators in the financial technology space
- Sibos 2025 (September 29 – October 2, 2025): The premier global financial services event
- FinTech Connect (October 2025): Discover digital innovation in payments and digital assets
- CFO London Summit (November 5, 2025): Discover ESG reporting and AI in finance
Turning compliance into competitive advantage
- Develop more resilient operational processes
- Enhance data quality and analytics capability
- Mature security frameworks
- Enhance customer confidence through greater transparency
- Streamline payment operations
How AccessPay can help
As a leader in payment automation, AccessPay helps corporations and financial institutions meet regulatory change while simplifying payment processes. Our platform is integrated with banking and ERP systems to provide a single platform for the management of all payment types, including those affected by future regulatory changes. Using our expertise in regulatory compliance, payment processing, and financial messaging standards, we help organisations turn compliance challenges into opportunities for operational enhancement. Find out more about how we support your compliance goals This article was prepared by the AccessPay team with data from our partners at Movimo on Bacs processing dates. For tailored advice on your organisation’s compliance requirements, please consult your legal and compliance teams.
