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Update

The FCA recently provided an update on progress tackling financial crime, along with a preview of its four key areas of focus for the coming year.

The FCA noted that fraud, money laundering, sanctions evasion, terrorist financing and other types of financial crime cause enormous damage to society, undermining market integrity and confidence among both consumers and market participants. Tackling financial crime, the regulator insisted, requires a collective effort from regulated firms, government, law enforcement, the FCA and its regulatory partners. 

In 2022, the FCA published a three-year strategy which identified reducing and preventing financial crime as a priority. The public-private Economic Crime Plan 2 (2023-2026) and the Fraud Strategy, both of which were published in 2023, established actions for public and private sector parties, with the ambition of measurably reducing financial crime.

The FCA noted that it has an integral role to play in helping achieve that national ambition, highlighted by the fact that the FCA and the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS), which is housed within the FCA, led or supported 20 of the 43 actions identified in the second Economic Crime Plan.       

As it passed the midpoint of its three-year strategy, the FCA summarised what it has achieved over the past 18 months in terms of tackling fraud, money laundering and sanctions evasion. Looking ahead it also identified four key focus areas where further collaborative effort can help shift the dial decisively on combatting financial crime:

•    Data and technology
•    Collaboration
•    Consumer awareness
•    Metrics for measuring effectiveness

In each of these areas, the FCA suggested actions firms’ boards should take to ensure they are playing their part in combatting financial crime. Click on the link below to find out more.

Links: https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/corporate-documents/reducing-and-preventing-financial-crime