In a speech at the International Bar Association Anti-Corruption Conference, Financial Conduct Authority joint executive director Therese Chambers said the FCA is relying more heavily on early intervention tools to stop financial crime before losses escalate, rather than depending only on traditional enforcement cases. She said the agency is using the credible threat of enforcement, alongside supervision, market oversight and proactive detection, to act in weeks rather than months or years as technology and artificial intelligence make financial crime cheaper, faster and harder to see. Chambers presented this as an expansion of enforcement rather than a departure from it. She cited 42 enforcement outcomes in 2024, 38 in 2025 and 18 by June 1 this year, with 10 investigations since July 2024 reaching a public outcome within 16 months or less, while whistleblowing disclosures rose 20% over the past year. Alongside those public cases, she pointed to interventions including pausing a life sciences prospectus linked to a suspected pump-and-dump structure, imposing an Own Initiative Requirement on an electronic money firm to stop it taking new customers or funds, and using voluntary requirements, feedback letters and targeted engagement to correct weaknesses at other firms. Last financial year, the FCA recorded 369 voluntary outcomes, including 124 supported by its Interventions Team, plus 13 cases where formal powers were used because firms would not agree. She also stressed that the FCA sees financial crime as a cross-border issue requiring joint action with regulators, law enforcement and industry. Examples included cooperation with overseas regulators on market abuse cases, handling 341 incoming and 138 outgoing requests under the Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding in the last financial year, and participating in a global finfluencer enforcement push that in the UK led to dozens of warnings, 120 account takedown requests and criminal action against three individuals. Domestically, Chambers said the FCA's focus is widening to motor finance and the conduct of claims management companies, supported by a taskforce with other UK authorities, multiple voluntary requirements and two confirmed investigations.
Financial Conduct Authority2026-06-17
Financial Conduct Authority outlines earlier intervention model to tackle faster and more complex financial crime
In a speech, the Financial Conduct Authority said it is using earlier and faster interventions to tackle financial crime, combining supervision, market oversight and the threat of enforcement to prevent harm before full cases are needed. Therese Chambers said this includes prospectus interventions, Own Initiative Requirements and voluntary restrictions, alongside continued public enforcement activity. She also highlighted cross-border cooperation and a wider domestic focus on motor finance and claims management companies.