HM Treasury has published its annual report on UK anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CTF) supervision, covering activity by the 25 AML/CTF supervisors between 6 April 2023 and 5 April 2024. The report provides consolidated supervisory and enforcement data across the public sector supervisors and the 22 legal and accountancy Professional Body Supervisors, and expands the dataset with new metrics intended to show how supervision and enforcement are targeted by risk and to begin measuring the outcomes of supervisory interventions. Across all supervisors, 13,058 applications for AML/CTF supervision were received and 954 were rejected; the supervised population totalled 94,937 businesses, with 9% categorised as high risk. Direct supervision activity (desk-based reviews and onsite visits) rose to 9,013 actions, equating to 10% of the supervised population, supported by an estimated 708 full-time equivalent staff and GBP 45m in expenditure. Enforcement totals included 1,227 fines worth GBP 41.5m, with GBP 26m of this attributed to three Financial Conduct Authority fines on medium-risk businesses, while His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs issued 977 fines totalling over GBP 5m and the Gambling Commission issued seven financial sanctions totalling over GBP 9m. Trust and Company Service Providers were reported separately, with GBP 1.5m of fines and 51 membership revocations; supervisors published 1,015 enforcement actions online. On Suspicious Activity Reports, 996 firms were asked to share SARs, supervisors assessed 466 for quality, and 57 were rated inadequate (52 due to missing glossary codes). The report also highlights FCA gatekeeping outcomes for cryptoasset firms, where 86% of initial crypto registrations were rejected, withdrawn or refused in 2023-24. HM Treasury notes that some of the new metrics were collected on a ‘best endeavours’ basis and expects a more comprehensive picture in the 2024-25 reporting period. The report also points to forthcoming policy milestones, including a response later in 2025 to HM Treasury’s 2024 consultation on potential changes to improve the effectiveness of the Money Laundering Regulations, publication of the next National Risk Assessment on money laundering and terrorist financing in 2025, and preparation for the Financial Action Task Force’s next UK mutual evaluation report due to be published in 2028.

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