Amendments to the Individual Savings Account Regulations 1998 made by the Individual Savings Account (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (S.I. 2026/248) took effect on 6 April 20261. The changes alter the treatment of Long Term Asset Funds (LTAFs) and cryptoasset exchange traded notes (cETNs) across ISA types, and require ISA managers to report both separately3.
Under the measure, LTAFs become qualifying investments for the stocks and shares ISA and Junior ISA, and lose their eligibility for the Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA)3. LTAFs held within an IFISA before 6 April 2026 are treated as qualifying investments for a stocks and shares ISA3. In the other direction, cETNs become qualifying investments for an IFISA and lose their eligibility for stocks and shares ISAs and Junior ISAs3. cETNs held in a stocks and shares ISA or Junior ISA before 6 April 2026 can remain within the account3.
The government set out the policy objective in its published note on the measure:
"The measure supports savers and allows investors at all income levels to save and invest in ways which best meet their needs."
The same note states that the measure is expected to have a negligible impact on the Exchequer, and that overall additional costs for HMRC in implementing the changes are expected to be negligible3. It adds that ISA managers who do not currently have HMRC's approval to offer a stocks and shares ISA or IFISA will need to seek approval3. The background given is that the government announced at Mansion House 2025 that from 6 April 2026 LTAFs would be qualifying investments for stocks and shares ISAs, and that on 8 October 2025 it was announced that, with effect from 6 April 2026, cETNs would be restricted to IFISAs3.
The commencement annotations on the consolidated regulations record the specific provisions amended with effect from 6 April 2026. Words were inserted into regulation 4(6)(b) by S.I. 2026/2481. In regulation 5DDA, which deals with additional permitted subscriptions following the death of an account investor, words were inserted into paragraph (2)(e)(v), paragraph (3A) and paragraph (11)(b)(iv)2. Regulation 5DDA permits a surviving spouse or civil partner to make an additional subscription where the deceased died on or after 3 December 2014, subject to conditions including that the subscription is within the permitted period, which for most subscriptions runs from the date of death and ends no more than 3 years thereafter or no more than 180 days after administration of the estate is complete, whichever is the later2. The value of a Lifetime ISA at the date of death includes any government bonus that has accrued but has not been paid2.
Why it matters for households
The changes affect what can be held inside each type of ISA from 6 April 2026, and therefore which accounts savers can use for particular investments. Someone holding an LTAF in an IFISA, or a cETN in a stocks and shares ISA or Junior ISA, before that date is not required to sell: the government states that LTAFs held in an IFISA before 6 April 2026 are treated as qualifying investments for a stocks and shares ISA, and that cETNs held in a stocks and shares ISA or Junior ISA before that date can remain within the account3. The note says it will therefore not be necessary to liquidate such investments and reinvest the released monies3. For new subscriptions from 6 April 2026, LTAFs can be held in a stocks and shares ISA or Junior ISA but not an IFISA, and cETNs can be held in an IFISA but not a stocks and shares ISA or Junior ISA3. ISA managers must report LTAFs and cETNs separately3. The government states that HMRC does not currently hold data on the protected characteristics of individuals impacted by the measure and so cannot determine conclusively whether there are equality impacts3.
What happens next
Separately, draft legislation published on 16 July 2026 sets out further proposed amendments to the 1998 Regulations that would come into force on 6 April 20274. Among other things, it would introduce a £12,000 limit on subscriptions to cash ISA accounts for individuals under the age of 65, and a charge on interest or alternative finance return generated by cash deposits held under a stocks and shares component or innovative finance component4. That consultation is closed4. The 2026 changes described above are already in force.
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