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How the FCA is Working to Fight Financial Crime [June 2026]

19/06/2026

Executive Summary

  • The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a LinkedIn post today (19 June 2026) highlighting the June edition of its FCA Insights newsletter.
  • The post details the FCA's multi-faceted approach to combating financial crime, including
    • Leadership vision, supervisory reviews, enforcement philosophy, market abuse monitoring, and
    • A specific warning on unauthorised sponsorship deals targeting football fans.
  • This briefing summarises the key messages for internal awareness and action.  All underlying official FCA sources are provided with full URLs for easy reference

Key Highlights at a Glance

  1. Financial Crime Conference: Brought together government, regulators, industry and content creators.
  2. Nikhil Rathi Vision: Tackling financial crime sits at the heart of the FCA's 5-year strategy.
  3. Customer Due Diligence Review: Multi-firm review published April 2026 – good and poor practice examples available.
  4. Sanctions Controls Review: Findings from review of 150+ firms published May 2026.
  5. Therese Chambers Speech (17 Jun 2026): Enforcement is more than headlines – includes supervision, oversight and proactive detection.
  6. Market Abuse: Allegra Bell and Sarah Hone highlight use of data, intelligence and advanced tools.
  7. Football Sponsorship Warning: Unauthorised crypto and trading platforms targeting fans via club sponsorships – significant risks to clubs and fans.

MORE DETAILS

  1. Financial Crime Conference & Leadership Vision
  • The FCA hosted a financial crime conference that brought together a diverse range of partners and stakeholders – from government to content creators – to collaborate on tackling the rapidly evolving landscape of financial crime.
  • FCA Chief Executive Nikhil Rathi set out his vision for tackling financial crime, which sits at the heart of the FCA's 5-year strategy (2025-2030).
  • The speech emphasises a joined-up, whole-system approach involving regulators, law enforcement and industry.
  • Official Source: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/speeches/working-together-against-financial-crime
  1. Assessing Firm Due Diligence and Sanctions Systems - Strong customer due diligence (CDD) remains a key defence against financial crime.

          a. Customer Due Diligence Multi-Firm Review

      1. In April 2026, the FCA published findings from its 2025 multi-firm review of Customer Due Diligence (CDD), Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) and ongoing monitoring controls.
      2. The review assessed a range of firm types and portfolios, identifying both good and poor practices to help firms raise standards.
      3. Official Source: https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/good-and-poor-practice/firms-customer-due-diligence-processes-and-controls-our-findings
    2. Sanctions Systems and Controls Review
      1. A separate study reviewed financial firms' sanctions controls across more than 150 authorised firms.
      2. The FCA highlights good practice and areas for improvement to reduce the risk of sanctions breaches or evasion. UK sanctions regimes have grown significantly in complexity since 2022.
      3. The FCA continues to supervise firms to ensure their systems and controls effectively mitigate sanctions risks as part of the broader fight against financial crime.
      4. Official Source: https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/good-and-poor-practice/sanctions-systems-and-controls-our-firms-our-findings

 3. A Whole System Fight Against Financial Crime

  • Financial crime is becoming faster and more complex than ever, driven by technological advancements. In a recent speech (17 June 2026), Therese Chambers (Joint Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight) explained that effective enforcement goes far beyond headlines. It encompasses the quieter, ongoing work of supervision, market oversight, and proactive detection.
  • A whole-system response is essential. Collaboration with global partners and industry is central to closing the gaps that criminals exploit.
  • Official Source: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/speeches/beyond-headlines-unseen-fight-against-financial-crime
  1. Tackling Market Abuse
  • From monitoring market integrity to tackling market abuse, Allegra Bell and Sarah Hone explain how the FCA uses data, intelligence and advanced tools to spot harm early, protect consumers, and maintain market integrity.
  • Market abuse undermines trust and creates an unfair playing field; proactive detection is a key priority.
  • Further details and video content featuring Allegra Bell and Sarah Hone are available via the FCA's LinkedIn channels and the June Insights materials.
  1. Stamping Out Unauthorised Football Sponsorship Deals
  • The FCA has identified several unauthorised firms – including crypto businesses and trading platforms – using high-profile sponsorship deals to target football fans.
  • These firms may be breaching UK financial services laws by providing financial services or making financial promotions in the UK without authorisation.
    • Risks to Fans: Fans risk losing all their money by engaging with unregulated entities.
    • Risks to Clubs: Clubs could face legal liability, money laundering risks, and significant reputational damage.
  • Key Message:
    • If a sponsoring firm provides financial services and is not listed on the FCA Firm Checker, it is not regulated.
    • Clubs and fans should verify authorisation before entering into any arrangements.
  • Official Source: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/football-clubs-warned-questionable-sponsorship-deals-unauthorised-firms

Implications and Recommended Actions for Firms

  1. Review CDD/EDD Controls – Compare your firm's policies, procedures, file testing outcomes and monitoring arrangements against the FCA's published good and poor practice examples.
  2. Strengthen Sanctions Systems – Assess screening, third-party oversight, trade sanctions controls and escalation processes in light of the May 2026 review findings.
  3. Verify Authorisation – Use the FCA Firm Checker for all third-party financial services relationships, including sponsorships, partnerships and introducers.
  4. Enhance Collaboration & Technology – Invest in advanced data analytics, transaction monitoring and intelligence sharing to keep pace with evolving threats.
  5. Engage with FCA Communications – Subscribe to FCA alerts, Regulation Round-up and monitor LinkedIn for the latest Insights and speeches.

Appendix: Key Sources - All information is sourced from publicly available FCA materials as of 19 June 2026.

— End of Briefing —

FINANCIAL CRIME SANCTIONS UNITED KINGDOM SPEECH

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As well as owning and publishing Comsure's copyrighted works, Comsure wishes to use the copyright-protected works of others. To do so, Comsure is applying for exemptions in the UK copyright law. There are certain very specific situations where Comsure is permitted to do so without seeking permission from the owner. These exemptions are in the copyright sections of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended)[www.gov.UK/government/publications/copyright-acts-and-related-laws]. Many situations allow for Comsure to apply for exemptions. These include 1] Non-commercial research and private study, 2] Criticism, review and reporting of current events, 3] the copying of works in any medium as long as the use is to illustrate a point. 4] no posting is for commercial purposes [payment]. (for a full list of exemptions, please read here www.gov.uk/guidance/exceptions-to-copyright]. Concerning the exceptions, Comsure will acknowledge the work of the source author by providing a link to the source material. Comsure claims no ownership of non-Comsure content. The non-Comsure articles posted on the Comsure website are deemed important, relevant, and newsworthy to a Comsure audience (e.g. regulated financial services and professional firms [DNFSBs]). Comsure does not wish to take any credit for the publication, and the publication can be read in full in its original form if you click the articles link that always accompanies the news item. Also, Comsure does not seek any payment for highlighting these important articles. If you want any article removed, Comsure will automatically do so on a reasonable request if you email info@comsuregroup.com.  

news disclaimer -

As well as owning and publishing Comsure's copyrighted works, Comsure wishes to use the copyright-protected works of others. To do so, Comsure is applying for exemptions in the UK copyright law. There are certain very specific situations where Comsure is permitted to do so without seeking permission from the owner. These exemptions are in the copyright sections of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended)[www.gov.UK/government/publications/copyright-acts-and-related-laws]. Many situations allow for Comsure to apply for exemptions. These include 1] Non-commercial research and private study, 2] Criticism, review and reporting of current events, 3] the copying of works in any medium as long as the use is to illustrate a point. 4] no posting is for commercial purposes [payment]. (for a full list of exemptions, please read here www.gov.uk/guidance/exceptions-to-copyright]. Concerning the exceptions, Comsure will acknowledge the work of the source author by providing a link to the source material. Comsure claims no ownership of non-Comsure content. The non-Comsure articles posted on the Comsure website are deemed important, relevant, and newsworthy to a Comsure audience (e.g. regulated financial services and professional firms [DNFSBs]). Comsure does not wish to take any credit for the publication, and the publication can be read in full in its original form if you click the articles link that always accompanies the news item. Also, Comsure does not seek any payment for highlighting these important articles. If you want any article removed, Comsure will automatically do so on a reasonable request if you email info@comsuregroup.com.