FCA Enforcement Watch 1: key themes and insights

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published the first edition of its Enforcement Watch newsletter, providing an overview of recent enforcement priorities, policy updates, and international collaboration efforts. This edition follows the FCA’s updated Enforcement Guide (ENFG), published on 3 June 2025, which introduced amendments to the FCA’s publicity policy to enhance transparency.

1. Updated Publicity Policy in Action

The FCA’s revised publicity policy retains the ‘exceptional circumstances’ test, under which the FCA may name firms or individuals subject to enforcement investigations only if certain criteria are met. These include maintaining public confidence, protecting consumers, preventing widespread malpractice, assisting the investigation, or maintaining market stability. The FCA will also consider potential prejudice to those under investigation before making any announcement.

Between June and December 2025, the FCA opened 23 enforcement operations. Notably, the FCA named The Claims Protection Agency Limited (TCPA) as under investigation, citing consumer protection as a key reason. TCPA’s challenge to this decision was dismissed by the High Court, which found the FCA’s interpretation and application of the ENFG to be reasonable and proportionate.

2. Enforcement Case Priorities

The FCA’s recent enforcement actions cover a broad spectrum of suspected misconduct, including:

• Regulatory breaches (18 operations)
• Criminal and regulatory offences (4 operations)
• Criminal offences alone (1 operation)

Key areas of focus include:

• Individual responsibility for regulatory failings, such as providing false information, suspected fraud, and misappropriation of funds.
• Market disclosure issues involving listed issuers.
• Unauthorised business, particularly in the cryptoasset sector.
• Consumer Duty breaches, especially regarding fair value for consumers, with several investigations into insurance firms, where the FCA said that the most egregious conduct was identified.
• Systems and controls failings, leading to consumer harm such as delayed responses and mishandled claims.
• Inadequate financial crime controls.
• Misleading statements and conflicts of interest in the consumer investment and asset management sectors.

The FCA emphasises that enforcement is pursued where supervisory engagement has not resolved significant concerns, particularly in cases of repeated failures to be open, failure to remediate issues, deliberately misleading the FCA, or significant consumer harm.

3. International Partnerships

The FCA continues to strengthen its international enforcement capabilities through partnerships with global regulators and law enforcement agencies. As an active member of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), the FCA both sends and receives hundreds of information requests annually, supporting cross-border investigations.

Recent developments include the use of the Crime (Overseas Production Orders) Act (COPO) to obtain electronic data from US-based service providers more efficiently, and participation in international efforts to tackle online fraud and illegal financial influencers.