FCA focused on fighting financial crime
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is increasingly focusing on fighting financial crime and scrutinising new firms entering markets.
Speaking at the Association of Foreign Banks – CEO Programme 2021 – The UK Regulatory Landscape Post-Brexit and Beyond, Nikhil Rathi (pictured), chief executive of the FCA, said that ensuring firms have adequate financial crime controls continues to be a key priority area for the regulator across the banking sector.
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“Two of our biggest sanctions in the last 12 months related to failures to address financial crime and money laundering risks,” he said.
“So, it is vital that firms proactively consider financial crime risks and improve their own systems and controls as required.”
Rathi said the City regulator, which is developing plans for a “regulated nursery” to support firms post-authorisation, is working on a tougher and more effective gateway for new firms entering markets, with closer scrutiny of what those firms do post-entry.
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“Our data strategy will move up the gears as we fix the fundamentals and increase our capacity to make better and faster use of data,” he said.
“And we’ll make more agile use of our principles – particularly the requirement to treat customers fairly – so that we can respond to issues as they arise with firms which are not doing the right thing.”