The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published the findings of a review assessing financial services firms’ systems and controls for financial and trade sanctions. The report includes examples of good and poor practice, and areas for development, to help firms comply with sanctions legislation. The FCA says firms have made progress in preventing sanctions breaches, but gaps remain. Alongside announcing its findings, the FCA has also signed an MoU with the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI), setting out the arrangements for co-operation and the sharing of intelligence between the two organisations.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published the outcomes from a multi-firm review of market soundings in UK equity capital markets (ECM)—wholesale banks. The findings cover the way firms conduct market soundings and their impact on market quality. The FCA says it will continue to engage with banks and other market participants on the topic and, where appropriate, explore their approach and controls in place through supervisory work.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published findings from its multi-firm review of ongoing financial advice services, based on data from 22 major UK financial advice firms. The review indicates that in the vast majority of cases firms delivered ongoing advice to their customers. The FCA plans to monitor complaints in this area and later in 2025 assess firms’ responses to the issues identified in the review. In 2025, the FCA also plans to reassess the regulatory framework for ongoing advice services to ensure it remains relevant and effective.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published the results of an online experiment it conducted with over 9,000 consumers, which found that digital engagement practices (DEPs) used by trading apps, such as push notifications and prize draws, can increase trading frequency and risk taking. The FCA says trading apps have the potential to transform retail investments, but some in-app features might be pushing consumers towards more frequent or riskier trading.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its findings on the review into firms’ approaches to complaints and root cause analysis, particularly in light of the Consumer Duty, which aims to enhance customer protection. The report is based on a thematic review of 40 firms across various sectors, including retail banking, insurance, and consumer finance. It highlights the importance of firms having robust management information systems and governance structures to effectively track and analyse customer complaints. The FCA considers that good practices involve using data to understand customer outcomes and identify areas of harm, which can then inform strategic decisions and improvements.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its multi-firm review on how financial services firms identify, assess, mitigate and manage financial crime risk. The review—part of the FCA’s 2025–30 strategy—evaluated business-wide risk assessment (BWRA) and customer risk assessment (CRA) systems across a range of sectors including building societies, wealth management, custody and fund services and e-money payments firms. The FCA compared firm controls against the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, Financial Crime Guide (FCG), Senior Management Arrangements, System and Controls (SYSC) rules, Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG) and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) guidance, highlighting both good and poor practices.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has set out the key findings from its review of payments firms’ implementation of the Consumer Duty, including how they considered its requirements, identified any gaps and addressed them.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published five Dear CEO portfolio strategy letters, covering trading venues, contracts for difference (CFD), data reporting services providers, custody and fund services, and benchmark administrators. The letters set out areas of risk in each sector, along with the FCA’s supervisory strategy and expectations. The FCA expects firms to discuss the contents of the letter with senior management, governing bodies and executive committees, and warns that it will deploy formal supervisory tools and, where appropriate, consider enforcement action where it sees firms fail to consider its feedback.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a full-page update of its ‘Climate change and sustainable finance’ webpage, outlining its current work in this area. The update brings together recent developments in the FCA’s regulatory approach, which is intended to support the management of risks associated with both the transition to a more sustainable economy and the impacts of climate change. It also describes the FCA’s work to improve the availability and reliability of sustainability-related information, promote fair competition, and contribute to the development of internationally aligned standards. The update is part of broader efforts to support the UK Government’s objective of establishing the UK as a global centre for sustainable finance.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its third full year of general insurance value measures data covering January 2024 to December 2024. The data shows claims costs as a proportion of premiums ranged from 20% for tyre cover to 69% for healthcare cash plans, with motor insurance at 54% (compared to 56% in 2023) and home insurance at 46% (compared to 45% in 2023). GAP insurance data shows claims costs exceeding 100% of premiums, reflecting the impact of previous FCA interventions where firms paused sales until they could demonstrate fair value to customers. The data includes claims frequency, acceptance rates, average payouts and complaints rates for products where firms have total retail premiums above £400,000 and more than 3,000 policies in force. The FCA has identified data quality issues particularly around home insurance claims acceptance rates, which range from 50-55% to 95-100% across different firms, and plans to publish findings from a post-implementation review of the value measures rules in summer 2026.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a non-exhaustive list of common errors made by firms seeking authorisation to work in the UK asset management sector. The FCA says how quickly it determines applications is largely based on an application’s completeness and clarity.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published final guidance explaining how it expects Payment Service Providers (PSPs) to apply changes introduced by the Payment Services (Amendment) Regulations 2024 which came into force in October 2024. The FCA has also updated its Approach Document which sets out the final guidance.